Evelyn Partners Investment Management LLP Sells 3,204 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Evelyn Partners Investment Management LLP lessened its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 32.4% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,684 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 3,204 shares during the quarter. Evelyn Partners Investment Management LLP’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $6,617,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 8.6% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 126 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $119,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Luminist Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 9.4% in the first quarter. Luminist Capital LLC now owns 128 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $122,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Birchbrook Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Birchbrook Inc. now owns 456 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $431,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the period. Ridgewood Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 159 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $157,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wagner Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC now owns 330 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $326,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on COST shares. Daiwa Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,005.00 to $947.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,333.00 to $1,418.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Hovde Group began coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday. They set a “market perform” rating and a $16.00 price objective on the stock. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,025.07.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $899.01 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $398.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.37, a PEG ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.98. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $927.95 and its 200 day moving average is $963.13. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 52 week low of $871.71 and a 52 week high of $1,078.23. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.81 by $0.06. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.94% and a return on equity of 30.09%. The business had revenue of $86.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.15 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st were issued a $1.30 dividend. 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 currently 28.56%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $915.00, for a total transaction of $3,093,615.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 9,740 shares in the company, valued at $8,912,100. This represents a 25.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Tiffany Marie Barbre sold 1,239 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 5,155 shares in the company, valued at $4,817,966.10. This trade 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 quarter, insiders have sold 9,720 shares of company stock worth $9,010,257. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.