SBB Research Group LLC Sells 790 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

SBB Research Group LLC cut its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 17.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,852 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 790 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for 3.8% of SBB Research Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. SBB Research Group LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,074,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Inlet Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the second quarter. Inlet Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,535 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,980,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. ETF Store Inc. boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. ETF Store Inc. now owns 522 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $289,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC now owns 2,134 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,149,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Veery Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.4% in the second quarter. Veery Capital LLC now owns 812 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $437,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Towerpoint Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Towerpoint Wealth LLC now owns 696 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $375,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $620.00 to $605.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $575.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 13th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $595.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 8th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $560.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $600.00 to $612.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 27th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $586.43.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ COST traded down $1.43 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $577.15. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,774,272 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,823,492. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $447.90 and a 12 month high of $599.89. The stock has a market cap of $255.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.76, a P/E/G ratio of 4.31 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 1.07. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $564.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $542.66.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 26th. The retailer reported $4.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.79 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $78.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $77.72 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.10% and a net margin of 2.60%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.20 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 3rd were given a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 2nd. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.81%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Patrick J. Callans sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $553.76, for a total transaction of $1,384,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 67,934 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,619,131.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Patrick J. Callans sold 2,500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $553.76, for a total value of $1,384,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 67,934 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,619,131.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Richard A. Galanti sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $566.09, for a total transaction of $1,132,180.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 25,412 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,385,479.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 19,265 shares of company stock worth $10,797,118. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.