Bridges Investment Management Inc. Cuts Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Bridges Investment Management Inc. cut its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 11.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,660 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,565 shares during the quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $6,816,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 118,320.2% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,396,524 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,376,513,000 after acquiring an additional 7,390,278 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,328,844,000. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 18.0% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,634,627 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,941,708,000 after purchasing an additional 1,315,174 shares during the last quarter. CI Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at $245,698,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 10.6% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,595,523 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,780,247,000 after purchasing an additional 535,776 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Wednesday, August 23rd. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $595.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 8th. VNET Group restated a “reiterates” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, June 29th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $567.00 to $597.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $535.00 to $550.00 in a report on Friday, July 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $566.63.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $556.36 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $246.52 billion, a PE ratio of 41.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.79. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $447.90 and a one year high of $571.16. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $550.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $518.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 1.08.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 8th. Investors of record on Friday, August 25th were issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 24th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 30.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,565 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $533.00, for a total value of $834,145.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,104,357. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Japan, Korea, Australia, Spain, France, Iceland, China, and Taiwan. It offers branded and private-label products in a range of merchandise categories.