Clarius Group LLC Reduces Holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Clarius Group LLC lessened its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,583 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 78 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale accounts for 0.5% of Clarius Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. Clarius Group LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $8,497,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in COST. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter valued at $3,461,159,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 valued at $2,335,686,000 after buying an additional 2,358,859 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,644,711 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $40,332,515,000 after buying an additional 443,101 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 84.0% during the 1st quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 812,188 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $768,114,000 after buying an additional 370,806 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,907,670 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,695,796,000 after purchasing an additional 191,985 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total transaction of $595,230.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares in the company, valued at $2,343,222.10. This trade represents a 20.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the firm’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 value of $3,093,615.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 9,740 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,912,100. The trade was a 25.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 7,981 shares of company stock worth $7,588,685 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST opened at $915.38 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $953.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $971.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.55. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1 year low of $867.34 and a 1 year high of $1,078.23. The firm has a market cap of $405.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.27, a PEG ratio of 5.55 and a beta of 0.98.

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. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 2.94%.The business had revenue of $86.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.01 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.15 EPS. Costco Wholesale’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 1st were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.56%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,137.00 to $1,140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Argus boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Daiwa Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,005.00 to $947.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $990.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Nineteen equities 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.com, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,067.19.

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.