Advisory Alpha LLC Has $2.14 Million Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Advisory Alpha LLC reduced its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 27.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,267 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 848 shares during the period. Advisory Alpha LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,144,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of COST. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 106,402.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,160,190 shares of the retailer's stock worth $7,717,744,000 after purchasing an additional 8,152,528 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $5,182,316,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 74,796.3% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,521,893 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,394,465,000 after acquiring an additional 1,519,861 shares in the last quarter. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $95,452,000. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 100,422.3% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 796,137 shares of the retailer's stock worth $729,476,000 after acquiring an additional 795,345 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total transaction of $3,924,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,994 shares in the company, valued at $43,161,193.58. The trade was a 8.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total transaction of $3,351,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 41,077 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $38,242,687. This represents a 8.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 9,600 shares of company stock worth $9,140,195. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on COST. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, April 11th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $975.00 price target on the stock. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,035.32.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:COST traded down $7.17 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $1,049.68. 1,029,973 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,254,374. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $793.00 and a 12 month high of $1,078.23. The firm has a market cap of $465.73 billion, a PE ratio of 61.64, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $986.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $977.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. The company had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.78 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio is presently 30.36%.

About Costco Wholesale

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.