Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Stock Holdings Lowered by Global Assets Advisory LLC

Global Assets Advisory LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 38.8% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,933 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,227 shares during the quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,905,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bulwark Capital Corp acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 900.0% during the first quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC now owns 40 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. eCIO Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the first quarter worth about $48,000. Aspect Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 24.4% in the first quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 56 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ransom Advisory Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter valued at approximately $61,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total transaction of $3,899,840.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 5,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,629,419.04. The trade was a 40.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total transaction of $595,230.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. This trade represents a 20.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 7,981 shares of company stock worth $7,588,685. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.2%

COST stock opened at $915.38 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $405.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.55 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a 50-day moving average of $953.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $972.15. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 52-week low of $867.34 and a 52-week high of $1,078.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.81 by $0.06. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 2.94%.The business had revenue of $86.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.15 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st were given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on COST. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $1,000.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,042.00 to $1,033.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,160.00 to $1,050.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,137.00 to $1,140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,067.19.

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.