Peoples Bank OH Decreases Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Peoples Bank OH cut its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 3.1% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,299 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 41 shares during the quarter. Peoples Bank OH’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $952,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Enterprise Financial Services Corp raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp now owns 892 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $589,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the period. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC now owns 1,535 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,125,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the period. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 4,472 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,276,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the period. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,371 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,004,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the period. Finally, Arlington Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Arlington Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,295 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $949,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of COST stock traded up $6.01 on Tuesday, reaching $886.85. 1,356,876 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,956,172. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $822.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $750.76. The company has a market capitalization of $393.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.95, a PEG ratio of 5.85 and a beta of 0.78. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $525.06 and a twelve month high of $896.67.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 28.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on COST. Argus lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $805.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $750.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $900.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday. Roth Mkm reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $676.00 target price (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $875.00 target price (up previously from $800.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Seven 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.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $766.73.

Costco Wholesale Company 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.