California Public Employees Retirement System Cuts Holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

California Public Employees Retirement System trimmed its position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 17.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,024,630 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 223,689 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises about 0.6% of California Public Employees Retirement System’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.23% of Costco Wholesale worth $1,014,322,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $5,692,035,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the first quarter valued at $3,461,159,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 418,980.3% in the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 2,359,422 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,335,686,000 after purchasing an additional 2,358,859 shares during the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 96,316.6% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,378,758 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,364,888,000 after purchasing an additional 1,377,328 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.7% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,356,271 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $42,920,107,000 after purchasing an additional 711,560 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.1%

COST opened at $894.68 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $919.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $955.24. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a one year low of $871.71 and a one year high of $1,078.23. The stock has a market cap of $396.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.13, a P/E/G ratio of 6.07 and a beta of 1.00.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.81 by $0.06. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 2.94%.The company had revenue of $86.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.15 EPS. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st were issued 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 presently 28.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on COST. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,025.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 26th. Roth Capital set a $907.00 price objective on Costco Wholesale and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,225.00 to $1,130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, BTIG Research started coverage on Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $1,115.00 price target on the stock. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,023.41.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP William Richard Wilcox sold 2,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $930.13, for a total transaction of $2,232,312.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 2,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,860,260. This trade represents a 54.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $915.00, for a total value of $3,093,615.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 9,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,912,100. The trade was a 25.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 9,720 shares of company stock worth $9,010,257. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.