Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 8,924 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

Key Points

• Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Costco Wholesale by 37.7%, selling 8,924 shares and now holds 14,753 shares valued at approximately $13.95 million.
• Insider sales at Costco include EVP Pierre Riel selling 2,000 shares for over $2 million and Director Susan L. Decker selling 547 shares for approximately $536,000, indicating a decrease in ownership by 19.59% and 4.53%, respectively.
• Costco announced a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share, with a dividend yield of 0.6%, reflecting a payout ratio of 29.50%.

Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 37.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 14,753 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 8,924 shares during the quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $13,954,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Personal CFO Solutions LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 12.4% during the 1st quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 1,519 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,436,000 after buying an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. F&V Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the first quarter valued at approximately $236,000. Graybill Wealth Management LTD. purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the first quarter valued at approximately $3,095,000. Curat Global LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the first quarter valued at approximately $241,000. Finally, Gateway Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,380 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,305,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.9%

COST stock traded up $8.89 during trading on Thursday, hitting $977.45. 1,889,814 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,222,700. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 1.02. The company has a 50-day moving average of $979.28 and a 200-day moving average of $984.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $433.48 billion, a PE ratio of 55.44, a P/E/G ratio of 6.02 and a beta of 0.96. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1 year low of $820.45 and a 1 year high of $1,078.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 30.48% and a net margin of 2.92%. The firm had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.78 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 1st will be given a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio is presently 29.50%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on COST shares. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,060.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Erste Group Bank cut Costco Wholesale from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Wall Street Zen raised Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, April 11th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $975.00 price objective on the stock. Ten equities 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 company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,040.81.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,014.15, for a total transaction of $2,028,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 8,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,326,171.50. This represents a 19.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total value of $3,899,840.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 5,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,629,419.04. This represents a 40.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 9,547 shares of company stock worth $9,472,510 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.