Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. cut its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 6.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,687 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 192 shares during the period. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,660,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Guardian Investment Management lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 11.1% during the second quarter. Guardian Investment Management now owns 5,047 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,996,000 after buying an additional 504 shares during the last quarter. Worth Financial Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 31.9% during the 2nd quarter. Worth Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 567 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $562,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the period. XY Planning Network Inc. acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 2nd quarter valued at $550,000. BayBridge Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. BayBridge Capital Group LLC now owns 1,855 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,836,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SC&H Financial Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. SC&H Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 2,689 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,662,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 2.9%

NASDAQ:COST opened at $915.95 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1-year low of $867.16 and a 1-year high of $1,078.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $406.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.15 and a beta of 0.97. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $955.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $971.07.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.81 by $0.06. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 31.10% and a net margin of 2.94%.The firm had revenue of $86.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.01 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.15 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the topic of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,025.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $1,130.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday. Wall Street Zen upgraded Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,137.00 to $1,140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,069.58.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total value of $3,899,840.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 5,774 shares in the company, valued at $5,629,419.04. This represents a 40.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. This represents a 20.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.