Costco Wholesale Executive VP & COO of Eastern Division Yoram Rubanenko Sells 30% Of Holding

We wouldn't blame Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) shareholders if they were a little worried about the fact that Yoram Rubanenko, the Executive VP & COO of Eastern Division recently netted about US$1.7m selling shares at an average price of US$680. That's a big disposal, and it decreased their holding size by 30%, which is notable but not too bad.

See our latest analysis for Costco Wholesale

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Costco Wholesale

The Senior EVP and COO of Warehouse Operations - U.S. & Mexico, Russell Miller, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$2.5m worth of shares at a price of US$558 each. That means that even when the share price was below the current price of US$695, an insider wanted to cash in some shares. When an insider sells below the current price, it suggests that they considered that lower price to be fair. That makes us wonder what they think of the (higher) recent valuation. While insider selling is not a positive sign, we can't be sure if it does mean insiders think the shares are fully valued, so it's only a weak sign. It is worth noting that this sale was only 29% of Russell Miller's holding.

In the last year Costco Wholesale insiders didn't buy any company stock. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

I will like Costco Wholesale better if I see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of growing companies with considerable, recent, insider buying.

Insider Ownership

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. Costco Wholesale insiders own 0.2% of the company, currently worth about US$589m based on the recent share price. I like to see this level of insider ownership, because it increases the chances that management are thinking about the best interests of shareholders.

So What Do The Costco Wholesale Insider Transactions Indicate?

Insiders sold stock recently, but they haven't been buying. And there weren't any purchases to give us comfort, over the last year. On the plus side, Costco Wholesale makes money, and is growing profits. While insiders do own a lot of shares in the company (which is good), our analysis of their transactions doesn't make us feel confident about the company. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Costco Wholesale. You'd be interested to know, that we found 1 warning sign for Costco Wholesale and we suggest you have a look.

Of course Costco Wholesale may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of high quality companies.

For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions of direct interests only, but not derivative transactions or indirect interests.

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