Van Cleef Asset Management Inc Sells 99 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Van Cleef Asset Management Inc decreased its position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 7.4% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,239 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 99 shares during the quarter. Van Cleef Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,227,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of COST. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $3,461,159,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 418,980.3% during the second 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 period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,644,711 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $40,332,515,000 after acquiring an additional 443,101 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 84.0% in the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 812,188 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $768,114,000 after acquiring an additional 370,806 shares during the period. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 2,369.5% in the second quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 323,288 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $320,036,000 after acquiring an additional 310,197 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on COST shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,225.00 to $1,130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 26th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered 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. Mizuho reduced their target price on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $950.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,025.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,063.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total transaction of $595,230.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. This represents a 20.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 9,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,912,100. This represents a 25.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 7,920 shares of company stock valued at $7,373,175 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $922.74 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $938.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $968.77. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $871.71 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.23. The company has a market capitalization of $408.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.67, a P/E/G ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.98. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.81 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $86.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.01 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 2.94%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.15 EPS. Analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be paid 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 is Friday, October 31st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.56%.

Costco Wholesale 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.