Realta Investment Advisors Trims Position in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Key Points

• Realta Investment Advisors has reduced its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation by 32.6% during the second quarter, now holding 2,338 shares valued at $2.31 million.
• Insider trading reports reveal that Costco executives, including EVP Russell D. Miller, sold significant shares recently, indicating a 25.77% decrease in Miller's ownership after selling 3,381 shares.
• Costco's latest earnings beat analyst expectations, reporting $5.87 earnings per share and $86.16 billion in revenue, contributing to a year-over-year revenue increase of 8.1%.

Realta Investment Advisors lowered its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 32.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,338 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 1,131 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for 0.9% of Realta Investment Advisors' holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Realta Investment Advisors' holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,314,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Wealthcare Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 5.1% in the second quarter. Wealthcare Capital Partners LLC now owns 429 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $424,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 13.1% in the 2nd quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 8,112 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $8,030,000 after buying an additional 941 shares during the period. Tandem Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 13.0% in the 2nd quarter. Tandem Investment Partners LLC now owns 979 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $969,000 after buying an additional 113 shares during the period. MGO Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.6% in the second quarter. MGO Private Wealth LLC now owns 793 shares of the retailer's stock worth $785,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BridgePort Financial Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the second quarter worth about $257,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of Costco Wholesale 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 9,740 shares in the company, valued at $8,912,100. The trade was a 25.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of Costco Wholesale 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 2,362 shares in the company, valued at $2,343,222.10. This represents a 20.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 7,981 shares of company stock worth $7,588,685 over the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. DA Davidson reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $1,000.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, September 26th. Daiwa Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,005.00 to $947.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,042.00 to $1,033.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 26th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and set a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Finally, Argus upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,067.19.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of COST opened at $915.38 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12-month low of $867.34 and a 12-month high of $1,078.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $405.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.27, a P/E/G ratio of 5.55 and a beta of 0.98. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $953.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $971.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

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

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 1st were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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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