Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Stock Holdings Trimmed by Soltis Investment Advisors LLC

Soltis Investment Advisors LLC reduced its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 6.6% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,362 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 167 shares during the period. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,731,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in COST. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,833,870 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $29,916,118,000 after buying an additional 473,702 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,628,694,000. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 8.1% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,824,778 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,802,147,000 after buying an additional 285,533 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 61,693.5% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,105,124 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,049,630,000 after buying an additional 3,100,099 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,794,480 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,844,581,000 after buying an additional 85,398 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ COST traded up $5.19 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $822.08. The company had a trading volume of 2,598,467 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,182,416. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $530.56 and a twelve month high of $896.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $364.45 billion, a PE ratio of 50.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.49 and a beta of 0.78. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $843.59 and its 200-day moving average is $770.96.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.08. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 30.02%. The business had revenue of $58.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.43 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.97 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, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 26th will be given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 26th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 28.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total transaction of $298,035.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,041,057.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total transaction of $298,035.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,041,057.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total transaction of $1,266,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,492 shares in the company, valued at $10,545,746.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,350 shares of company stock valued at $2,837,131 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $765.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $900.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Roth Mkm restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $676.00 target price (up from $650.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $775.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $805.46.

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.