Peak Financial Advisors LLC Cuts Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Peak Financial Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.7% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,538 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 98 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale makes up about 1.7% of Peak Financial Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Peak Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $3,007,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,833,870 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $29,916,118,000 after acquiring an additional 473,702 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,628,694,000. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 8.1% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,824,778 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,802,147,000 after purchasing an additional 285,533 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,794,480 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,844,581,000 after buying an additional 85,398 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,657,994 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,754,489,000 after acquiring an additional 77,345 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:COST traded up $15.50 during trading on Friday, reaching $854.93. 1,710,588 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,297,663. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $844.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $776.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.45. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $530.56 and a 12-month high of $896.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $379.02 billion, a PE ratio of 52.97, a P/E/G ratio of 5.49 and a beta of 0.78.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.16 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.43 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.97 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 26th were given a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 26th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 28.75%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total transaction of $298,035.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,041,057.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total transaction of $1,266,300.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,545,746.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total value of $298,035.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,041,057.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,350 shares of company stock valued at $2,837,131 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on COST shares. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $925.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Argus lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $805.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $874.00 to $962.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $925.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $925.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $821.62.

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.