WESPAC Advisors LLC Sells 54 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

WESPAC Advisors LLC lowered its position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,642 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 54 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale accounts for about 1.1% of WESPAC Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest position. WESPAC Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,625,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bulwark Capital Corp bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 900.0% in the first 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 shares of Costco Wholesale in the first quarter worth approximately $48,000. Aspect Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 24.4% in the first quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 56 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ransom Advisory Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the first quarter worth approximately $61,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the firm’s 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 directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total value of $3,899,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 5,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 7,981 shares of company stock valued at $7,588,685 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST opened at $914.80 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company has a market capitalization of $405.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.24, a PEG ratio of 5.55 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $952.43 and a 200 day moving average of $971.37. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12 month low of $867.34 and a 12 month high of $1,078.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.81 by $0.06. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 2.94%.The business had revenue of $86.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.01 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.15 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,042.00 to $1,033.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,160.00 to $1,050.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,005.00 to $947.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,025.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.