Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Stock Position Decreased by Westfield Capital Management Co. LP

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP trimmed its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 144,626 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 3,530 shares during the quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $143,171,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Corps Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.7% in the first quarter. Corps Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,547 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,463,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 8.6% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 126 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $119,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Redwood Park Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. Redwood Park Advisors LLC now owns 173 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $163,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Luminist Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 9.4% in the first quarter. Luminist Capital LLC now owns 128 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $122,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Birchbrook Inc. raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 2.5% during the first quarter. Birchbrook Inc. now owns 456 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $431,000 after buying an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $915.00, for a total transaction of $3,093,615.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 9,740 shares in the company, valued at $8,912,100. This trade represents a 25.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Tiffany Marie Barbre sold 1,239 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $934.62, for a total value of $1,157,994.18. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 5,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,817,966.10. This represents a 19.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 9,720 shares of company stock worth $9,010,257. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on COST shares. BTIG Research started coverage on Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $1,115.00 target price for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,140.00 to $1,134.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, Hovde Group started coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday. They set a “market perform” rating and a $16.00 price target for the company. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,025.07.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.5%

COST stock opened at $890.60 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $930.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $964.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company has a market cap of $394.70 billion, a PE ratio of 48.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.98. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a twelve month low of $871.71 and a twelve month high of $1,078.23.

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. The company had revenue of $86.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.01 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 2.94%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.15 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

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

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.