Heritage Wealth Advisors Sells 156 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Heritage Wealth Advisors trimmed its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,327 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 156 shares during the quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,304,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of COST. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,356,271 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $42,920,107,000 after purchasing an additional 711,560 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.5% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,275,056 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $10,124,263,000 after buying an additional 150,844 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.4% during the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,332,009 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,097,127,000 after buying an additional 18,045 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 5.2% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,907,670 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,695,796,000 after acquiring an additional 191,985 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,461,159,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on COST shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,025.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,225.00 to $1,130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 26th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $990.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,042.00 to $1,033.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Argus lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,025.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 2,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $935.68, for a total transaction of $2,526,336.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 6,851 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,410,343.68. This trade represents a 28.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $915.00, for a total transaction of $3,093,615.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 9,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,912,100. The trade was a 25.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 9,720 shares of company stock valued at $9,010,257 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

NASDAQ COST opened at $895.08 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $932.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $964.95. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 52 week low of $871.71 and a 52 week high of $1,078.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $396.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.15, a PEG ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.98.

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

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st were paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 31st. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.56%.

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.