Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC Grows Holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 13.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,112 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 941 shares during the period. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $8,030,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Bulwark Capital Corp bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the second quarter worth $25,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 900.0% in the 1st quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC now owns 40 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. eCIO Inc. purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter valued at about $48,000. Aspect Partners LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 24.4% during the 1st quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 56 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ransom Advisory Ltd bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter valued at about $61,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. The trade was a 20.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 9,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,912,100. This trade represents a 25.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 7,981 shares of company stock valued at $7,588,685. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on COST shares. Evercore ISI dropped 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, September 26th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $1,000.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Erste Group Bank lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,042.00 to $1,033.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $990.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,067.19.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $915.38 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $405.95 billion, a PE ratio of 50.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.55 and a beta of 0.98. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1 year low of $867.34 and a 1 year high of $1,078.23. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $953.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $971.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

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

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

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

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.