Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Sells 836 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund reduced its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 6.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,061 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 836 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for 0.8% of Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $11,940,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the second quarter valued at about $5,692,035,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC raised its position in 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 valued at $2,335,686,000 after buying an additional 2,358,859 shares during the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in 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 valued at $1,364,888,000 after acquiring an additional 1,377,328 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.7% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 9.8% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,291,557 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,248,384,000 after acquiring an additional 383,887 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. HSBC cut their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,045.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday. Daiwa Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of 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 initiated coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $1,115.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Gordon Haskett reduced their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $998.70.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of COST stock opened at $884.47 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 52-week low of $867.12 and a 52-week high of $1,078.23. The stock has a market cap of $392.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.37, a PEG ratio of 6.00 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $916.22 and its 200-day moving average is $950.64. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 11th. The retailer reported $4.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.27 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $67.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $67.03 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.16% and a net margin of 2.96%.The business’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.04 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st were paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 31st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is 28.56%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP William Richard Wilcox sold 2,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $930.13, for a total transaction of $2,232,312.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 2,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,860,260. This trade represents a 54.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 2,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 owned 6,851 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,410,343.68. This represents a 28.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 9,720 shares of company stock worth $9,010,257 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

About Costco Wholesale

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.