Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by First Bank & Trust

First Bank & Trust cut its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,141 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 36 shares during the period. First Bank & Trust’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $3,034,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in COST. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,360,168 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $26,640,940,000 after purchasing an additional 485,051 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,628,694,000. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,539,245 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,336,198,000 after buying an additional 132,292 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 61,693.5% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,105,124 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,049,630,000 after acquiring an additional 3,100,099 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,794,480 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,844,581,000 after acquiring an additional 85,398 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of Costco Wholesale 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $849.99 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $801.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $739.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $524.63 and a 1 year high of $873.96. The firm has a market cap of $376.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.66, a P/E/G ratio of 5.62 and a beta of 0.79.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.16 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.43 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th were given a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 25th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 28.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on COST shares. Loop Capital raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $890.00 to $940.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Telsey Advisory Group raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $905.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $700.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $756.85.

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.