City Holding Co. Increases Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

City Holding Co. boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 8.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,011 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 525 shares during the period. City Holding Co.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $5,136,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Richelieu Gestion SA purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 200.0% in the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Vima LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of COST traded down $3.44 on Monday, hitting $844.87. 302,315 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,971,211. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $374.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.56, a P/E/G ratio of 5.70 and a beta of 0.79. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $788.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $732.58. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $521.26 and a 1 year high of $873.96.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $58.52 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.43 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Argus increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $805.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $710.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $860.00 to $890.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $750.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Roth Mkm restated a “neutral” rating and set a $676.00 target price (up from $650.00) 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 given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $752.96.

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.