HBK Sorce Advisory LLC Grows Position in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

HBK Sorce Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 7,021 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $6,950,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of COST. Peterson Wealth Services boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Peterson Wealth Services now owns 13,616 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $13,479,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the period. Fishman Jay A Ltd. MI boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Fishman Jay A Ltd. MI now owns 16,888 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $16,718,000 after buying an additional 575 shares during the period. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,638 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $20,430,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Personal CFO Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 12.4% in the 1st quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 1,519 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,436,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the period. Finally, Graybill Wealth Management LTD. bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter valued at about $3,095,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 1.3%

COST opened at $912.42 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $404.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.11, a P/E/G ratio of 5.61 and a beta of 0.98. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12 month low of $867.34 and a 12 month high of $1,078.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $941.47 and a 200 day moving average of $971.27.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 30.09% and a net margin of 2.94%.The firm’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.15 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st will be given a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COST has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup cut their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $990.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 29th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $1,000.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,025.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,130.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,068.15.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $915.00, for a total value of $3,093,615.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 9,740 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,912,100. This trade represents a 25.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of Costco Wholesale 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 2,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. This represents a 20.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 7,920 shares of company stock worth $7,373,175. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.