Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Shares Sold by Souders Financial Advisors

Souders Financial Advisors trimmed its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 14.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 928 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 157 shares during the period. Souders Financial Advisors’ holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $919,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the first quarter worth approximately $3,461,159,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 418,980.3% in the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 2,359,422 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,335,686,000 after acquiring an additional 2,358,859 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in 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. National Bank of Canada FI grew its position 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 worth $768,114,000 after acquiring an additional 370,806 shares during the period. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 2,369.5% in the second quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 323,288 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $320,036,000 after acquiring an additional 310,197 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, insider Tiffany Marie Barbre sold 1,239 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $934.62, for a total value of $1,157,994.18. Following the sale, the insider owned 5,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,817,966.10. The trade was a 19.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $3,093,615.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 9,740 shares in the company, valued at $8,912,100. This represents a 25.77% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 7,920 shares of company stock worth $7,373,175 over the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.6%

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $935.03 on Thursday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1-year low of $871.71 and a 1-year high of $1,078.23. 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 stock has a market cap of $414.39 billion, a PE ratio of 51.35, a P/E/G ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.98. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $938.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $969.33.

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

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $1,000.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Mizuho lowered their price target on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $950.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Roth Capital set a $907.00 price target on Costco Wholesale and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,225.00 to $1,130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,333.00 to $1,418.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,064.85.

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.