Baer Investment Advisory LLC Trims Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Baer Investment Advisory LLC cut its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 3.1% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,347 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 74 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises about 3.6% of Baer Investment Advisory LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Baer Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,480,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 900.0% in the first quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC now owns 40 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 975.0% in the second quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 43 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 72.0% in the second quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 43 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Finally, eCIO Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the first quarter valued at about $48,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $932.14 on Monday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 52-week low of $867.34 and a 52-week high of $1,078.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $945.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $972.16. The firm has a market cap of $413.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.66 and a beta of 0.98.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued 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. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.94% and a return on equity of 30.09%. The business had revenue of $86.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $5.15 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 is Friday, October 31st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.56%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total transaction of $595,230.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. This represents a 20.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 2,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 6,851 shares in the company, valued at $6,410,343.68. The trade was a 28.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 7,920 shares of company stock valued at $7,373,175. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,042.00 to $1,033.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 26th. Argus upped 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 report on Monday, September 29th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $950.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,137.00 to $1,140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,068.15.

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.