Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Shares Sold by Waldron Private Wealth LLC

Waldron Private Wealth LLC decreased its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,429 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 35 shares during the period. Waldron Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,415,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. MQS Management LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the second quarter worth about $935,000. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 30.1% during the second quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,983 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,943,000 after acquiring an additional 921 shares during the last quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 30.7% during the second quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,996 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,966,000 after acquiring an additional 703 shares during the last quarter. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 2.2% during the second quarter. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. now owns 2,042 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,021,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Guardian Financial Partners LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 3.0% during the second quarter. Guardian Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,717 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,699,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $932.14 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1 year low of $867.34 and a 1 year high of $1,078.23. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $945.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $972.11. The company has a market cap of $413.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.19, a PEG ratio of 5.66 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $86.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.15 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict 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. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 28.56%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, insider Tiffany Marie Barbre sold 1,239 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $934.62, for a total value of $1,157,994.18. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 5,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,817,966.10. The trade was a 19.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $915.00, for a total transaction 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 approximately $8,912,100. The trade was a 25.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 7,920 shares of company stock valued at $7,373,175 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on COST shares. Daiwa Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,005.00 to $947.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,130.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,137.00 to $1,140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,068.15.

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.