Whipplewood Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Whipplewood Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 26.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 263 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 96 shares during the period. Whipplewood Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $260,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Peterson Wealth Services increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Peterson Wealth Services now owns 13,616 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $13,479,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Fishman Jay A Ltd. MI grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 3.5% during the second quarter. Fishman Jay A Ltd. MI now owns 16,888 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $16,718,000 after purchasing an additional 575 shares during the period. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the second quarter. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,638 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $20,430,000 after buying an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.4% in the first quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 1,519 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,436,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the period. Finally, Graybill Wealth Management LTD. purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter valued at about $3,095,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,160.00 to $1,050.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,137.00 to $1,140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $1,000.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, September 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,333.00 to $1,418.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Citigroup lowered 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,068.15.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, insider Tiffany Marie Barbre sold 1,239 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $934.62, for a total value of $1,157,994.18. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 5,155 shares in the company, valued at $4,817,966.10. The trade was a 19.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 9,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,912,100. The trade was a 25.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 7,920 shares of company stock worth $7,373,175. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 1.1%

COST opened at $932.14 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $413.11 billion, a PE ratio of 51.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.66 and a beta of 0.98. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $945.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $972.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 52 week low of $867.34 and a 52 week high of $1,078.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 2.94%.The company had revenue of $86.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.15 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. 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.