Capital Investment Advisors LLC Has $4.38 Million Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Capital Investment Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 41.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,137 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 5,726 shares during the quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $4,381,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of COST. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Agur Provident & Training Funds Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth about $42,000. 25 LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth about $44,000. Piscataqua Savings Bank grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 30.1% during the first quarter. Piscataqua Savings Bank now owns 95 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth about $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the subject of a number of research reports. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $575.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Monday, August 28th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $475.00 to $510.00 in a report on Thursday, August 3rd. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $575.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 25th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $535.00 to $550.00 in a research note on Friday, July 7th. Finally, VNET Group restated a “reiterates” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, June 29th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $566.63.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ:COST traded down $8.41 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $556.36. 2,945,317 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,366,981. The stock has a market capitalization of $246.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.79. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $551.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $519.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 1.08. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $447.90 and a fifty-two week high of $571.16.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 8th. Investors of record on Friday, August 25th were issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 24th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 30.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,565 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $533.00, for a total transaction of $834,145.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,104,357. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.22% of the stock is currently 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, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Japan, Korea, Australia, Spain, France, Iceland, China, and Taiwan. It offers branded and private-label products in a range of merchandise categories.