Avior Wealth Management LLC Decreases Stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Avior Wealth Management LLC reduced its position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 3.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,796 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 193 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $5,738,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,644,711 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $40,332,515,000 after purchasing an additional 443,101 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.4% in the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,332,009 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,097,127,000 after purchasing an additional 18,045 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 5.2% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,907,670 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,695,796,000 after purchasing an additional 191,985 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the first quarter worth approximately $3,461,159,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 3.9% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,357,630 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,175,579,000 after purchasing an additional 125,441 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST opened at $915.95 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12 month low of $867.16 and a 12 month high of $1,078.23. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $955.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $971.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a market cap of $406.21 billion, a PE ratio of 50.30, a P/E/G ratio of 5.15 and a beta of 0.97.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.01 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 31.10% and a net margin of 2.94%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.15 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 1st were paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.56%.

Insider Activity

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total transaction of $3,899,840.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 5,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,629,419.04. This trade represents a 40.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total value of $595,230.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares in the company, valued at $2,343,222.10. This represents a 20.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Erste Group Bank cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,042.00 to $1,033.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,160.00 to $1,050.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,137.00 to $1,140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Wednesday. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,069.58.

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.