Financial Advisors Network Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Financial Advisors Network Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 9.0% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 443 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 44 shares during the quarter. Financial Advisors Network Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $419,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bosun Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Bosun Asset Management LLC now owns 636 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $583,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Corps Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.7% during the first quarter. Corps Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,547 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,463,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 8.6% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 126 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $119,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 3,437 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,163,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rooted Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 2.6% during the first quarter. Rooted Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 441 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $404,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COST has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Erste Group Bank lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Monday, August 4th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,050.00.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ:COST opened at $972.04 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $972.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $986.13. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 52-week low of $867.16 and a 52-week high of $1,078.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $431.08 billion, a PE ratio of 55.14, a P/E/G ratio of 6.04 and a beta of 0.96.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.48% and a net margin of 2.92%. The business had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.78 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 1st were issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.50%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,014.15, for a total value of $2,028,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 8,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,326,171.50. This represents a 19.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,002.77, for a total value of $3,008,310.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 58,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,705,164.11. This trade represents a 4.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 9,547 shares of company stock worth $9,472,510. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.