Sharper & Granite LLC Sells 35 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Sharper & Granite LLC decreased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,204 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 35 shares during the period. Sharper & Granite LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,183,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Smith Group Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Smith Group Asset Management LLC now owns 51,234 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $50,719,000 after acquiring an additional 763 shares in the last quarter. Moser Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. Moser Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,580 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,534,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the period. Strata Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 14.4% during the second quarter. Strata Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 604 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $598,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Avion Wealth grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 110.5% in the second quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 240 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $237,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the period. Finally, Silver Oak Advisory Group Inc. raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 22.9% in the second quarter. Silver Oak Advisory Group Inc. now owns 1,278 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,264,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on COST shares. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. 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, September 24th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $990.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,068.15.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $942.05 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12-month low of $867.34 and a 12-month high of $1,078.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $417.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.73 and a beta of 0.98. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $946.03 and a 200 day moving average of $971.51.

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

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of Costco Wholesale 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 owned 9,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,912,100. The trade was a 25.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $595,230.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,343,222.10. This represents a 20.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.