Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC cut its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,645 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 238 shares during the period. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $5,588,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Peterson Wealth Services raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.5% during the second quarter. Peterson Wealth Services now owns 13,616 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $13,479,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Fishman Jay A Ltd. MI increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Fishman Jay A Ltd. MI now owns 16,888 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $16,718,000 after buying an additional 575 shares during the last quarter. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. Graybill Wealth Management LTD. purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter worth $3,095,000. Finally, Rossmore Private Capital boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.9% in the first quarter. Rossmore Private Capital now owns 6,687 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,325,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on COST. Citigroup dropped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $990.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,130.00 to $1,050.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,140.00 to $1,134.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, Erste Group Bank cut shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,063.88.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $922.74 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $408.94 billion, a PE ratio of 50.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.98. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a one year low of $871.71 and a one year high of $1,078.23. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $938.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $968.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 1.03.

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

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 28.56%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Tiffany Marie Barbre sold 1,239 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $934.62, for a total value of $1,157,994.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 5,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,817,966.10. This represents a 19.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 2,700 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $935.68, for a total value of $2,526,336.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 6,851 shares in the company, valued at $6,410,343.68. This represents a 28.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 7,920 shares of company stock valued at $7,373,175. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.