HBK Sorce Advisory LLC Sells 58 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

HBK Sorce Advisory LLC lessened its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.8% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 6,910 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 58 shares during the quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $6,535,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in COST. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 106,402.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,160,190 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,717,744,000 after buying an additional 8,152,528 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $5,182,316,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 74,796.3% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,521,893 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,394,465,000 after acquiring an additional 1,519,861 shares during the last quarter. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at about $95,452,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,257,809 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,817,573,000 after acquiring an additional 587,303 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $980.00, for a total transaction of $536,060.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,300,380. This trade represents a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,002.77, for a total value of $3,008,310.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 58,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,705,164.11. This trade represents a 4.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 9,547 shares of company stock valued at $9,496,950. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST stock opened at $986.54 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $437.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.92 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 1.02. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a one year low of $793.00 and a one year high of $1,078.24. The company’s 50-day moving average is $1,004.32 and its 200 day moving average is $981.29.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 30.48%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.78 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.50%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on COST. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Cfra Research raised Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Barclays upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,034.79.

Costco Wholesale 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.