American Trust Sells 340 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

American Trust trimmed its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 3.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,890 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 340 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale makes up approximately 0.6% of American Trust’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. American Trust’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $7,556,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth about $32,000. Vima LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 557.1% during the second quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 46 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Finally, Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 2nd quarter valued at about $48,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total transaction of $543,430.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,775 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,320,787.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total transaction of $543,430.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,775 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,320,787.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total transaction of $1,266,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,492 shares in the company, valued at $10,545,746.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 4,974 shares of company stock worth $4,252,856. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on COST shares. Barclays increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $860.00 to $890.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $927.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $915.00 to $925.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $883.04.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 1.0 %

COST stock opened at $877.38 on Wednesday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $540.23 and a fifty-two week high of $923.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $388.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.36, a PEG ratio of 5.47 and a beta of 0.80. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $871.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $819.44.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 30.02%. The firm had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.91 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.86 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 16.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 26th were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 26th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.75%.

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.