Capital City Trust Co. FL Raises Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Capital City Trust Co. FL lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 4.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 394 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 16 shares during the quarter. Capital City Trust Co. FL’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $349,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 22.3% during the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 7,719 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,655,000 after purchasing an additional 1,408 shares in the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 20.3% in the first quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 498 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $365,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the first quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 7,298 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,347,000 after buying an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 120.4% during the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 7,515 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,506,000 after buying an additional 4,106 shares during the period. Finally, Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 500.0% in the first quarter. Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC now owns 60,000 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $43,958,000 after buying an additional 50,000 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the subject of several research reports. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $880.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, October 10th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,000.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Monday, November 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $876.00 to $995.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $905.30.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $896.71, for a total transaction of $1,793,420.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,155,409.10. The trade was a 16.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total value of $1,266,866.88. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 27,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,514,232. The trade was a 4.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,016 shares of company stock worth $9,826,115. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

COST opened at $907.07 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The company has a market capitalization of $401.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 0.80. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $897.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $859.62. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $572.24 and a 1-year high of $962.00.

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

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st were issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.00%.

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.