Sonora Investment Management Group LLC Has $30.27 Million Holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Sonora Investment Management Group LLC reduced its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 4.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 32,707 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,609 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale accounts for about 2.1% of Sonora Investment Management Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $30,274,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 2nd quarter worth $5,692,035,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 418,980.3% during the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 2,359,422 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,335,686,000 after acquiring an additional 2,358,859 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 96,316.6% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,378,758 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,364,888,000 after acquiring an additional 1,377,328 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.7% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,356,271 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $42,920,107,000 after acquiring an additional 711,560 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 9.8% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,291,557 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,248,384,000 after acquiring an additional 383,887 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $990.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 29th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $1,000.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, December 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,025.00 to $1,027.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $991.39.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP William Richard Wilcox sold 2,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $930.13, for a total transaction of $2,232,312.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 2,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,860,260. The trade was a 54.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Tiffany Marie Barbre sold 1,239 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $934.62, for a total transaction of $1,157,994.18. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 5,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,817,966.10. This represents a 19.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 9,720 shares of company stock worth $9,010,257. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.0%

NASDAQ COST opened at $860.39 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The company has a market capitalization of $381.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.08, a PEG ratio of 5.18 and a beta of 1.00. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12 month low of $844.06 and a 12 month high of $1,078.23. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $914.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $947.83.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 11th. The retailer reported $4.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.27 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $67.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $67.03 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 29.35% and a net margin of 2.96%.The firm’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.04 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st were given a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 31st. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.85%.

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.