GenTrust LLC Sells 2,327 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

GenTrust LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 76.0% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 733 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 2,327 shares during the period. GenTrust LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $726,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fishman Jay A Ltd. MI boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 3.5% during the second quarter. Fishman Jay A Ltd. MI now owns 16,888 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $16,718,000 after buying an additional 575 shares during the period. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the second quarter. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,638 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $20,430,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Personal CFO Solutions LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 12.4% during the first quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 1,519 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,436,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the period. Graybill Wealth Management LTD. bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the first quarter valued at $3,095,000. Finally, Rossmore Private Capital boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.9% during the first quarter. Rossmore Private Capital now owns 6,687 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,325,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $1,130.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,225.00 to $1,130.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,068.15.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $942.05 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $946.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $971.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market cap of $417.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.73, a PEG ratio of 5.73 and a beta of 0.98. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $867.34 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.23.

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

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 28.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $915.00, for a total value of $3,093,615.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 9,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,912,100. The trade was a 25.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $595,230.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares in the company, valued at $2,343,222.10. This trade represents a 20.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Company 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.