Sculati Wealth Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Sculati Wealth Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 3.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,371 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 126 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for 1.3% of Sculati Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Sculati Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $3,337,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bulwark Capital Corp bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the second quarter worth $25,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 900.0% during the 1st quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC now owns 40 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 975.0% in the 2nd quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 43 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Frazier Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 72.0% in the 2nd quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 43 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on COST shares. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,140.00 to $1,134.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,025.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,333.00 to $1,418.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Argus boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,063.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 2,700 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $935.68, for a total transaction of $2,526,336.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 6,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,410,343.68. The trade was a 28.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,343,222.10. This trade represents a 20.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 10,320 shares of company stock valued at $9,605,487 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of COST opened at $922.98 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12 month low of $871.71 and a 12 month 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 fifty day moving average price of $934.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $966.73. The company has a market cap of $409.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.69, a PEG ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.98.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its earnings results 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 company 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.15 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st were paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was 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 presently 28.56%.

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.