Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX decreased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 3.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,567 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 435 shares during the period. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX’s holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation were worth $2,170,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Main Street Research LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale Corporation by 4.9% in the first quarter. Main Street Research LLC now owns 64,704 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $10,850,000 after buying an additional 3,023 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Costco Wholesale Corporation by 1.3% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,254,387 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,048,798,000 after buying an additional 79,201 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank increased its position in Costco Wholesale Corporation by 26.2% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,597,008 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $267,802,000 after buying an additional 331,400 shares during the last quarter. Palo Capital Inc. increased its position in Costco Wholesale Corporation by 0.7% in the second quarter. Palo Capital Inc. now owns 7,669 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,227,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Weik Investment Services Inc. increased its position in Costco Wholesale Corporation by 0.5% in the first quarter. Weik Investment Services Inc. now owns 14,148 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,372,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.91% of the company’s stock.
Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST) traded down 0.94% during trading on Friday, reaching $157.08. 2,747,925 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged. The firm has a market cap of $68.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.27 and a beta of 0.93. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12 month low of $142.11 and a 12 month high of $183.18. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $155.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $167.38. Costco Wholesale Corporation also was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders bought 6,031 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 231% compared to the average daily volume of 1,822 put options.
Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 25th. The retailer reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.09. Costco Wholesale Corporation had a net margin of 2.06% and a return on equity of 20.45%. The firm had revenue of $28.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.24 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post $5.77 EPS for the current year.
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 18th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.27%. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale Corporation’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Costco Wholesale Corporation’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.66%.
COST has been the topic of a number of research reports. Vetr upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $168.75 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 11th. Robert W. Baird set a $200.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 27th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation in a research report on Thursday, May 4th. BidaskClub downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 20th. Finally, Cowen and Company set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, July 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. The stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $179.11.
In other news, Director John W. Meisenbach sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.28, for a total transaction of $160,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,974 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $957,512.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider John D. Mckay sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.60, for a total transaction of $544,800.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 62,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,369,431.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,677,430 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.74% of the company’s stock.
About Costco Wholesale Corporation
Costco Wholesale Corporation is engaged in the operation of membership warehouses in the United States and Puerto Rico, Canada, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Japan, Australia, Spain, and through its subsidiaries in Taiwan and Korea. As of August 28, 2016, the Company operated 715 warehouses across the world.
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