Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) Holdings Lowered by Cornerstone Advisory LLC

Cornerstone Advisory LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.4% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,371 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 59 shares during the period. Cornerstone Advisory LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,395,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in COST. Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Aspect Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 24.4% in the 1st quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 56 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth approximately $58,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth approximately $59,000. Finally, Bank & Trust Co grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 20.4% in the 1st quarter. Bank & Trust Co now owns 65 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST opened at $935.48 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $992.04 and its 200-day moving average is $983.84. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12 month low of $793.00 and a 12 month high of $1,078.23. The firm has a market cap of $414.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.82 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 30.48%. The business had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $62.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.78 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st will be paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 29.50%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $980.00, for a total value of $536,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 11,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,300,380. The trade was a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,002.77, for a total transaction of $3,008,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 58,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,705,164.11. The trade was a 4.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 9,547 shares of company stock valued at $9,472,510 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on COST. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Cfra Research raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,037.48.

Costco Wholesale 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.