Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by Petredis Investment Advisors LLC

Petredis Investment Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 16,508 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 60 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises about 1.6% of Petredis Investment Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $14,032,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in COST. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,763 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,164,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 21,514 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $14,201,000 after acquiring an additional 2,909 shares during the period. Zhang Financial LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 1,010 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $740,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Strong Tower Advisory Services increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 7.9% in the 1st quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services now owns 1,867 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,346,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the period. Finally, Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 27,902 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $18,418,000 after acquiring an additional 1,627 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COST has been the subject of a number of research reports. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $925.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Citigroup increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $710.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $950.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $925.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $927.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $824.50.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock traded up $14.64 on Thursday, hitting $877.35. 1,921,167 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,990,293. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $847.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $780.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $388.96 billion, a PE ratio of 54.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.73 and a beta of 0.78. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $530.56 and a one year high of $896.67. 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 (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.08. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 30.02%. The company had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.43 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 26th were issued a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 26th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.75%.

Insider Activity

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 value of $1,266,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,545,746.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total value of $1,266,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,545,746.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 5,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,041,057.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,970 shares of company stock valued at $4,249,526 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Company 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.