Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Stock Holdings Trimmed by Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC

Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 8.0% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 6,252 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 540 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale makes up approximately 2.2% of Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $6,197,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 19,825 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $18,165,000 after buying an additional 2,172 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,029,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,628 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,160,000 after buying an additional 966 shares in the last quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1,081.0% in the 1st quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,925 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,843,000 after buying an additional 1,762 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 3,813 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,544,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on COST shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,042.00 to $1,033.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,225.00 to $1,130.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Argus lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,068.15.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total transaction of $595,230.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. The trade was a 20.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 9,740 shares in the company, valued at $8,912,100. The trade was a 25.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $936.33 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $414.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.42, a PEG ratio of 5.61 and a beta of 0.98. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $949.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $971.49. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.81 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $86.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.01 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 2.94%.Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.15 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 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.