Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 50 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 5.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 875 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 50 shares during the quarter. Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $866,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of COST. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 19,825 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $18,165,000 after purchasing an additional 2,172 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,029,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,628 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,160,000 after acquiring an additional 966 shares during the period. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 16.6% during the 1st quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA now owns 407 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $385,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, Thomasville National Bank lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 850 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $804,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $915.00, for a total transaction of $3,093,615.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 9,740 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,912,100. This trade represents a 25.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total transaction of $3,899,840.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 5,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,629,419.04. This trade represents a 40.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 7,981 shares of company stock worth $7,588,685. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 1.4%

COST opened at $930.01 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The company’s 50-day moving average is $952.05 and its 200 day moving average is $971.48. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $867.34 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $412.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.07, a PEG ratio of 5.72 and a beta of 0.98.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 last year, the firm earned $5.15 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 1st were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on COST. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,160.00 to $1,050.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Roth Capital set a $907.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,225.00 to $1,130.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,066.23.

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.