Mengis Capital Management Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Mengis Capital Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.8% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 14,781 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 113 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for about 2.6% of Mengis Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Mengis Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $13,104,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Connections Group Inc. lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 557.1% during the second quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 46 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the second quarter valued at about $48,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 73.5% during the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 59 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the second quarter worth about $50,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COST has been the subject of several research reports. Truist Financial downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $873.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $975.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Loop Capital upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,005.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $1,065.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $876.00 to $995.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $905.30.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 10,202 shares in the company, valued at $9,091,512.30. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $891.15, for a total value of $3,921,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,091,512.30. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $896.71, for a total transaction of $1,793,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,155,409.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 12,136 shares of company stock worth $10,806,570. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ:COST opened at $932.38 on Wednesday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $572.24 and a one year high of $962.00. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $895.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $855.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $413.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.27, a PEG ratio of 5.76 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.44.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.90% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The business’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.86 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.00%.

Costco Wholesale Company 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.