Truist Financial Corp Buys 3,526 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Truist Financial Corp grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 316,993 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,526 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp owned about 0.07% of Costco Wholesale worth $269,441,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Oak Asset Management LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Oak Asset Management LLC now owns 4,396 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,737,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,786 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,518,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares during the period. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. now owns 995 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $729,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Boltwood Capital Management lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 790 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $671,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares during the period. Finally, LifePro Asset Management grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. LifePro Asset Management now owns 358 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $304,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 12,492 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,545,746.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total transaction of $1,266,300.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,492 shares in the company, valued at $10,545,746.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total value of $298,035.50. Following the completion of the sale, 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 4,974 shares of company stock worth $4,252,856. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on COST. Melius Research started coverage on Costco Wholesale in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $950.00 target price for the company. Barclays boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Roth Mkm raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $676.00 to $755.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Loop Capital increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,005.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $780.00 to $880.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $883.04.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST stock opened at $886.52 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $871.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $818.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.45. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $540.23 and a 1 year high of $923.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $393.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.93, a P/E/G ratio of 5.47 and a beta of 0.80.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.86 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 16.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 26th were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 26th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio 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.