Advisory Alpha LLC Has $2.36 Million Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Advisory Alpha LLC lowered its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 3.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,781 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 110 shares during the period. Advisory Alpha LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,364,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. IMS Capital Management lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.1% in the 2nd quarter. IMS Capital Management now owns 3,794 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,324,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 316,993 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $269,441,000 after purchasing an additional 3,526 shares during the period. Old North State Trust LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Old North State Trust LLC now owns 2,273 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,932,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,728,000. Finally, Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $55,508,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $874.05, for a total transaction of $437,025.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,900 shares in the company, valued at $20,015,745. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $874.05, for a total transaction of $437,025.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,015,745. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total transaction of $298,035.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,920 shares in the company, valued at $5,041,057.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 4,974 shares of company stock worth $4,252,856. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on COST shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $975.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $860.00 to $890.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $925.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Loop Capital boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,005.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $883.04.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST opened at $886.52 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $393.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.93, a PEG ratio of 5.47 and a beta of 0.80. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $871.45 and a 200 day moving average of $818.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.94. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $540.23 and a fifty-two week high of $923.83.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 30.02%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.86 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 16.02 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Investors of record on Friday, July 26th were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 26th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 28.75%.

About Costco Wholesale

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.