Waldron Private Wealth LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Waldron Private Wealth LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,429 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 35 shares during the period. Waldron Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,415,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 900.0% during the first quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC now owns 40 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 975.0% during the second quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 43 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 72.0% during the second quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 43 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Finally, eCIO Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth $48,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $1,000.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,042.00 to $1,033.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of 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. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $990.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,068.15.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, insider Tiffany Marie Barbre sold 1,239 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $4,817,966.10. This represents a 19.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 9,740 shares in the company, valued at $8,912,100. This trade represents a 25.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 7,920 shares of company stock valued at $7,373,175 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 1.1%

COST opened at $932.14 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $413.11 billion, a PE ratio of 51.19, a P/E/G ratio of 5.66 and a beta of 0.98. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $945.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $972.11. 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 Corporation has a 12-month low of $867.34 and a 12-month high of $1,078.23.

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

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio 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.