Wealth Alliance Cuts Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Wealth Alliance trimmed its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 13.2% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,268 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 192 shares during the quarter. Wealth Alliance’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,078,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Strong Tower Advisory Services boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 7.9% in the first quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services now owns 1,867 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,346,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 52.1% in the second quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 7,645 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,499,000 after purchasing an additional 2,620 shares in the last quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 22.8% in the second quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 3,533 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,003,000 after purchasing an additional 656 shares in the last quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 30.8% in the second quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,596 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,757,000 after purchasing an additional 1,319 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aspiriant LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 6.1% in the first quarter. Aspiriant LLC now owns 2,327 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,705,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $765.00 to $830.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $925.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, September 6th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $975.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $870.00 to $975.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $915.00 to $925.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $844.52.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,492 shares in the company, valued at $10,545,746.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,492 shares in the company, valued at $10,545,746.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total value of $543,430.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,775 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,320,787.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,974 shares of company stock worth $4,252,856 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.5 %

NASDAQ:COST opened at $892.52 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $862.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $809.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $395.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.30, a PEG ratio of 5.56 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.94. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $540.23 and a 1 year high of $923.83.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 26th were given a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 26th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio 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.