Affiance Financial LLC Reduces Holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Affiance Financial LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 24.8% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 430 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 142 shares during the period. Affiance Financial LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $427,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of COST. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 106,402.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,160,190 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,717,744,000 after acquiring an additional 8,152,528 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the first quarter valued at approximately $3,461,159,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,644,711 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $40,332,515,000 after acquiring an additional 443,101 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 84.0% in the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 812,188 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $768,114,000 after acquiring an additional 370,806 shares during the period. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $280,046,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of COST opened at $952.36 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 1.02. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a one year low of $867.16 and a one year high of $1,078.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $422.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.02, a PEG ratio of 5.42 and a beta of 0.97. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $958.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $972.82.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 1st were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 29.50%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COST has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,060.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Erste Group Bank downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Wednesday, August 27th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,056.67.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total value of $595,230.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares in the company, valued at $2,343,222.10. This represents a 20.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total value of $3,899,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.