Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC Trims Position in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 37.7% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,691 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 3,451 shares during the quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $5,634,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in COST. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,644,711 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $40,332,515,000 after acquiring an additional 443,101 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake 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 worth $4,097,127,000 after acquiring an additional 18,045 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake 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 worth $3,695,796,000 after acquiring an additional 191,985 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth about $3,461,159,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.9% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,357,630 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,175,579,000 after acquiring an additional 125,441 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $914.80 on Wednesday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12-month low of $867.34 and a 12-month high of $1,078.23. The company has a market capitalization of $405.70 billion, a PE ratio of 50.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.52 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $952.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $971.76.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced 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. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.94% and a return on equity of 30.09%. The company had revenue of $86.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.15 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 1st were issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is 28.56%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on COST. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Citigroup lowered 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. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,005.00 to $947.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $1,000.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Argus upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,067.19.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total transaction of $595,230.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 2,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. This represents a 20.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at 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 shares were sold at an average price of $915.00, for a total transaction of $3,093,615.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 9,740 shares in the company, valued at $8,912,100. The trade was a 25.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 7,981 shares of company stock valued at $7,588,685 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.