Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Shares Sold by SoundView Advisors Inc.

Key Points

• SoundView Advisors Inc. reduced its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 16.5%, now owning 2,918 shares valued at approximately $2.89 million.
• Several institutional investors have made substantial changes to their positions, including Nuveen LLC acquiring a new stake valued at about $3.46 billion.
• Costco announced a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share, with an ex-dividend date set for October 31st, representing an annual yield of 0.6%.

SoundView Advisors Inc. cut its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 16.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,918 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 577 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for 1.1% of SoundView Advisors Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. SoundView Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,888,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in COST. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the first quarter valued at approximately $3,461,159,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 418,980.3% in the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 2,359,422 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $2,335,686,000 after buying an additional 2,358,859 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,644,711 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $40,332,515,000 after buying an additional 443,101 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 84.0% in the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 812,188 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $768,114,000 after buying an additional 370,806 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2,369.5% in the second quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 323,288 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $320,036,000 after buying an additional 310,197 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $915.00, for a total value of $3,093,615.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 9,740 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,912,100. This represents a 25.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total value of $595,230.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. This trade represents a 20.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $1,130.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Roth Capital set a $907.00 price objective on Costco Wholesale and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,160.00 to $1,050.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Erste Group Bank cut Costco Wholesale from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, BTIG Research started coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. They set a "buy" rating and a $1,115.00 price target for the company. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,068.15.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.7%

NASDAQ:COST traded down $6.19 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $938.49. The company had a trading volume of 601,830 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,245,491. 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $946.70 and a 200 day moving average of $971.28. The company has a market cap of $415.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.52, a P/E/G ratio of 5.69 and a beta of 0.98. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1 year low of $867.34 and a 1 year high of $1,078.23.

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

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is presently 28.56%.

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.

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