Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by American Trust

American Trust reduced its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 5.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,230 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 547 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises approximately 0.6% of American Trust’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. American Trust’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $6,762,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Parcion Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,163 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,748,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC now owns 16,553 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $10,926,000 after purchasing an additional 504 shares during the period. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth $250,000. Howland Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Howland Capital Management LLC now owns 9,970 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,720,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Bridges Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,557 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,289,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total transaction of $298,035.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,920 shares in the company, valued at $5,041,057.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $848.53, for a total value of $1,272,795.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,992 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,327,041.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total value of $298,035.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,041,057.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,350 shares of company stock worth $2,837,131 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $710.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Roth Mkm reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $676.00 target price (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $875.00 target price (up previously from $800.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $815.00 to $873.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $805.46.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock traded up $5.19 during trading on Friday, reaching $822.08. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,598,467 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,182,416. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $530.56 and a 12-month high of $896.67. The company has a market capitalization of $364.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.49 and a beta of 0.78. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $843.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $771.58.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.08. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. The firm had revenue of $58.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.43 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.97 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Investors of record on Friday, July 26th will be paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 26th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.75%.

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.