Fortis Group Advisors LLC Sells 2,526 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Fortis Group Advisors LLC decreased its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 34.6% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 4,783 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 2,526 shares during the quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $4,066,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Norges Bank bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth $3,628,694,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the first quarter worth $510,353,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 287.3% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 836,247 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $710,802,000 after acquiring an additional 620,341 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3,647.1% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 567,641 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $374,688,000 after acquiring an additional 552,492 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,360,168 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $26,640,940,000 after acquiring an additional 485,051 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $875.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Oppenheimer cut their target price on Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $925.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Bank of America increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $874.00 to $962.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Argus increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $805.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, Roth Mkm reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $676.00 target price (up from $650.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $824.50.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total value of $1,266,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,545,746.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total value of $1,266,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,545,746.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total value of $298,035.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,041,057.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 4,974 shares of company stock valued at $4,252,856 over the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.6 %

COST stock opened at $892.38 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $539.31 and a fifty-two week high of $918.93. The business’s 50-day moving average is $854.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $794.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.94. The company has a market cap of $395.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.29, a P/E/G ratio of 5.98 and a beta of 0.78.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.08. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. The firm had revenue of $58.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.43 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 26th were paid a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 26th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.75%.

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.