Westover Capital Advisors LLC Reduces Holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Westover Capital Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 7,582 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 149 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for approximately 1.5% of Westover Capital Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Westover Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $7,506,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Square LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.4% in the second quarter. Capital Square LLC now owns 1,017 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $987,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Sykon Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 2nd quarter valued at $218,000. Root Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,677 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,660,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.8% in the second quarter. Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,531 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,515,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, Intrust Bank NA raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.8% during the second quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 5,283 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,230,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on COST shares. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Roth Capital set a $907.00 price objective on Costco Wholesale and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Erste Group Bank cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, September 18th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,063.88.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $912.59 on Tuesday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12 month low of $871.71 and a 12 month high of $1,078.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $404.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.11, a P/E/G ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.98. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $933.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $965.75. 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 (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 net margin of 2.94% and a return on equity of 30.09%. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.15 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 2,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. This trade represents a 20.26% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 10,320 shares of company stock worth $9,605,487 in the last 90 days. 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.