Aviance Capital Partners LLC Sells 989 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Aviance Capital Partners LLC reduced its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 12.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,160 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 989 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale makes up about 0.8% of Aviance Capital Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Aviance Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $6,347,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of COST. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 62.8% during the third quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 2,417 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,143,000 after acquiring an additional 932 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 8,046 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,133,000 after purchasing an additional 568 shares in the last quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 66.9% during the 3rd quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. now owns 3,088 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,738,000 after purchasing an additional 1,238 shares during the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 52.1% during 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. Finally, Patton Fund Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the third quarter worth about $6,424,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on COST shares. Melius Research initiated coverage on Costco Wholesale in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $950.00 price target for the company. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the company from $860.00 to $890.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $985.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Truist Financial cut shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $873.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,000.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $908.81.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ COST opened at $919.51 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $407.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.49, a PEG ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 0.80. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $577.34 and a twelve month high of $962.00. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $898.08 and a 200 day moving average of $860.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.90% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.86 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st were given a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $891.15, for a total transaction of $3,921,060.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,091,512.30. The trade was a 30.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $896.71, for a total value of $1,793,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,210 shares in the company, valued at $9,155,409.10. This represents a 16.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 11,016 shares of company stock worth $9,826,115. 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.