MUFG Securities EMEA plc Sells 9,001 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

MUFG Securities EMEA plc decreased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 90.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 999 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 9,001 shares during the period. MUFG Securities EMEA plc’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $990,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.6% in the second quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 2,863 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,834,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Elm Partners Management LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $884,000. Accuvest Global Advisors increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 9.6% in the 2nd quarter. Accuvest Global Advisors now owns 5,397 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,343,000 after buying an additional 473 shares during the period. American Institute for Advanced Investment Management LLP increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. American Institute for Advanced Investment Management LLP now owns 1,095 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,084,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the period. Finally, Crystal Rock Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the second quarter worth approximately $2,133,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $915.00, for a total value of $3,093,615.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 9,740 shares in the company, valued at $8,912,100. This represents a 25.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total value of $595,230.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 2,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,343,222.10. This represents a 20.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 7,920 shares of company stock worth $7,373,175 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on COST shares. Roth Capital set a $907.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,137.00 to $1,140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,025.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,068.15.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $911.45 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $403.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.98. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $939.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $970.40. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a twelve month low of $867.34 and a twelve month high of $1,078.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 1.03.

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

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

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

Costco Wholesale Company 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.