Wellington Management Group LLP Cuts Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Wellington Management Group LLP lowered its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 83.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 166,541 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 867,704 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $147,642,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Maia Wealth LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $301,000. AA Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the second quarter worth $206,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,638 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,392,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Falcon Wealth Planning raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Falcon Wealth Planning now owns 1,951 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,658,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 24,481 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $20,809,000 after buying an additional 718 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on COST. StockNews.com cut shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $985.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $1,016.00 target price for the company. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $928.50.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $891.15, for a total transaction of $3,921,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,202 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,091,512.30. This represents a 30.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total value of $1,266,866.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,400 shares in the company, valued at $24,514,232. The trade was a 4.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,016 shares of company stock valued at $9,826,115 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $987.86 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $437.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.62, a PEG ratio of 6.05 and a beta of 0.82. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $618.76 and a twelve month high of $997.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company has a 50 day moving average of $917.82 and a 200 day moving average of $880.63.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 2.90%. The firm had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.91 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.86 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st were paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.00%.

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.