Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Stake Lowered by Tower View Wealth Management LLC

Tower View Wealth Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 6,736 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 59 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale comprises about 3.5% of Tower View Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest position. Tower View Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $6,668,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Personal CFO Solutions LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 12.4% in the 1st quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 1,519 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,436,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. F&V Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter valued at $236,000. Graybill Wealth Management LTD. bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter valued at $3,095,000. Rossmore Private Capital boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.9% during the first quarter. Rossmore Private Capital now owns 6,687 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,325,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Curat Global LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter worth about $241,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

NASDAQ COST opened at $916.77 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 1.03. The business’s fifty day moving average is $953.95 and its 200 day moving average is $971.03. The company has a market capitalization of $406.57 billion, a PE ratio of 50.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.56 and a beta of 0.98. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $867.34 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.81 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $86.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.01 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 2.94%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.15 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 2,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. This represents a 20.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The shares were 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 approximately $5,629,419.04. This represents a 40.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 7,981 shares of company stock valued at $7,588,685 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on COST shares. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Argus raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of 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. Citigroup lowered their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $990.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,137.00 to $1,140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,067.19.

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.