Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by ProShare Advisors LLC

ProShare Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 9.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 443,782 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 46,099 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale makes up approximately 1.0% of ProShare Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. ProShare Advisors LLC owned about 0.10% of Costco Wholesale worth $377,210,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,833,870 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $29,916,118,000 after acquiring an additional 473,702 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 8.1% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,824,778 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,802,147,000 after purchasing an additional 285,533 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,790,935 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,842,241,000 after buying an additional 81,853 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 28.2% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,538,078 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,307,363,000 after buying an additional 338,780 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 99,208.6% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,474,733 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,253,508,000 after buying an additional 1,473,248 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on COST shares. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Costco Wholesale from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $925.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $910.00 to $915.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $775.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Redburn Atlantic cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the company from $860.00 to $890.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $710.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $844.52.

Insider Activity

In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total transaction of $543,430.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,775 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,320,787.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total transaction of $298,035.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,041,057.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total transaction of $543,430.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,775 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,320,787.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 4,974 shares of company stock valued at $4,252,856. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $906.98 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $864.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $811.25. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $540.23 and a 12-month high of $923.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock has a market cap of $402.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.19, a PEG ratio of 5.51 and a beta of 0.80.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 26th were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 26th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.75%.

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.