Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Shares Sold by Violich Capital Management Inc.

Violich Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 10.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 46,951 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 5,629 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for 6.5% of Violich Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Violich Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $46,479,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter worth about $3,461,159,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 418,980.3% during the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 2,359,422 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,335,686,000 after buying an additional 2,358,859 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,644,711 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $40,332,515,000 after buying an additional 443,101 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 84.0% during the 1st quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 812,188 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $768,114,000 after buying an additional 370,806 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 2,369.5% during the 2nd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 323,288 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $320,036,000 after buying an additional 310,197 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total transaction of $595,230.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 2,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. This represents a 20.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $915.00, for a total transaction of $3,093,615.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 9,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,912,100. This trade represents a 25.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $936.33 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $949.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $971.53. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12-month low of $867.34 and a 12-month high of $1,078.23. The firm has a market cap of $414.96 billion, a PE ratio of 51.42, a PEG ratio of 5.68 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.81 by $0.06. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.94% and a return on equity of 30.09%. The firm had revenue of $86.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.15 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.56%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,025.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 26th. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $950.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,137.00 to $1,140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Erste Group Bank cut shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,068.15.

Costco Wholesale Profile

Costco Wholesale Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the operation of membership warehouses in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, Japan, the United Kingdom, Korea, Australia, Taiwan, China, Spain, France, Iceland, New Zealand, and Sweden. The company offers branded and private-label products in a range of merchandise categories.