Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Holdings Trimmed by Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. lowered its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 45,425 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 2,866 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale accounts for 0.9% of Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $44,976,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of COST. Bulwark Capital Corp bought a new position in Costco Wholesale during the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 900.0% during the first quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC now owns 40 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 975.0% during the second quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 43 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 72.0% during the second quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 43 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Finally, eCIO Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter valued at $48,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COST has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup reduced their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $990.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,160.00 to $1,050.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 26th. Truist Financial reduced their target price 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. Mizuho reduced their target price on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $950.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets reduced their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,005.00 to $947.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,068.15.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $920.18 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a one year low of $867.34 and a one year high of $1,078.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $407.81 billion, a PE ratio of 50.53, a PEG ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.98. 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $940.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $970.92.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.81 by $0.06. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 2.94%.The firm had revenue of $86.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.01 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.15 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue 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 fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued 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 payout ratio is currently 28.56%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 2,700 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $935.68, for a total transaction of $2,526,336.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 6,851 shares in the company, valued at $6,410,343.68. The trade was a 28.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total value of $595,230.00. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 7,920 shares of company stock valued at $7,373,175 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.