Sepio Capital LP Sells 368 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Sepio Capital LP lowered its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,031 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 368 shares during the quarter. Sepio Capital LP’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $4,981,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the second quarter worth $5,692,035,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter valued at $3,461,159,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 418,980.3% in 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 during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 96,316.6% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,378,758 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,364,888,000 after acquiring an additional 1,377,328 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,356,271 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $42,920,107,000 after acquiring an additional 711,560 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on COST. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, September 18th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Hovde Group began coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $16.00 price target on the stock. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,005.00 to $947.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. BTIG Research began coverage on Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $1,115.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,042.00 to $1,033.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 26th. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,025.07.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 2,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $935.68, for a total transaction of $2,526,336.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 6,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,410,343.68. The trade was a 28.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP William Richard Wilcox sold 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $930.13, for a total transaction of $2,232,312.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 2,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,860,260. This trade represents a 54.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 9,720 shares of company stock valued at $9,010,257. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.5%

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $912.90 on Monday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12 month low of $871.71 and a 12 month high of $1,078.23. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $922.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $958.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a market cap of $404.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.13, a PEG ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.98.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.81 by $0.06. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 2.94%.The company had revenue of $86.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.01 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.15 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st were issued 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 of this dividend was Friday, October 31st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.