Foundations Investment Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

Key Points

• Foundations Investment Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Costco Wholesale by 13.7%, now owning 14,192 shares worth approximately $13.4 million, after selling 2,253 shares in the first quarter.
• Recent trades revealed that Costco's Executive Vice Presidents sold significant amounts of stock, with Pierre Riel selling 2,000 shares for over $2 million, marking a 19.59% decrease in his ownership.
• Costco recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share, with the ex-dividend date set for August 1st, representing an annualized yield of 0.56%.

Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 13.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,192 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 2,253 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $13,422,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,739,175 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $8,901,249,000 after purchasing an additional 252,118 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,457,824 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $8,665,921,000 after purchasing an additional 149,209 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 106,402.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,160,190 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $7,717,744,000 after purchasing an additional 8,152,528 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,257,809 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $4,817,573,000 after purchasing an additional 587,303 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,990,957 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $3,656,828,000 after purchasing an additional 18,897 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 1.6%

COST stock traded up $15.03 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $942.54. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,439,963 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,204,613. The company has a market cap of $418.00 billion, a PE ratio of 53.46, a P/E/G ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 0.97. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12 month low of $793.00 and a 12 month high of $1,078.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm's 50-day moving average is $986.03 and its 200-day moving average is $983.48.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last announced its 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. The business had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 30.48%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.78 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st will be paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.50%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on COST. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,060.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Loop Capital reduced their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Mizuho assumed coverage on Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, April 11th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $975.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,037.48.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total value of $3,899,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 5,774 shares in the company, valued at $5,629,419.04. This represents a 40.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $980.00, for a total value of $536,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 11,531 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,300,380. This trade represents a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 9,547 shares of company stock valued at $9,472,510. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Costco Wholesale 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.