Cardinal Strategic Wealth Guidance Lowers Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Cardinal Strategic Wealth Guidance lowered its position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 11.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,105 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 142 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale comprises about 0.3% of Cardinal Strategic Wealth Guidance’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Cardinal Strategic Wealth Guidance’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,094,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,644,711 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $40,332,515,000 after purchasing an additional 443,101 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.4% during the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,332,009 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,097,127,000 after buying an additional 18,045 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 5.2% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,907,670 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,695,796,000 after buying an additional 191,985 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth about $3,461,159,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 3.9% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,357,630 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,175,579,000 after buying an additional 125,441 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,025.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 26th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, September 18th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $1,000.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Argus raised their price objective 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, September 29th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,067.19.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST stock opened at $915.38 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $953.54 and a 200-day moving average of $971.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12 month low of $867.34 and a 12 month high of $1,078.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $405.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.55 and a beta of 0.98.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $86.01 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.15 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders 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 (DPR) is 28.56%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 29th. The shares were 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 directly 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total transaction 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 $2,343,222.10. This trade represents a 20.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 7,981 shares of company stock worth $7,588,685. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.