Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Key Points

• Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Costco Wholesale by 8.0%, holding 6,252 shares valued at approximately $6.2 million, making it the 17th largest position in their portfolio.
• Costco reported $5.87 earnings per share (EPS), exceeding the consensus estimate of $5.81, and recorded revenue of $86.16 billion, showing an 8.1% year-over-year increase.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share, which will be paid on November 14th, giving an annualized yield of 0.6%.

Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 8.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,252 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 540 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale comprises 2.2% of Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $6,197,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of COST. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 19,825 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $18,165,000 after purchasing an additional 2,172 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,029,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 12.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,628 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $8,160,000 after purchasing an additional 966 shares during the last quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1,081.0% in the first quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,925 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,843,000 after purchasing an additional 1,762 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.4% in the first quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 3,813 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $3,544,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $936.33 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $414.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.61 and a beta of 0.98. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12-month low of $867.34 and a 12-month high of $1,078.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $949.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $971.49.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.81 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $86.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.01 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 2.94%.The business's revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.15 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on COST. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,137.00 to $1,140.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,042.00 to $1,033.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $1,130.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,025.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,225.00 to $1,130.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,068.15.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of Costco Wholesale 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 2,362 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,343,222.10. The trade was a 20.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of Costco Wholesale 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 sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.