Farmers Trust Co. Has $218,000 Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Farmers Trust Co. cut its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 246 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 27 shares during the period. Farmers Trust Co.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $218,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Unique Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.0% in the third quarter. Unique Wealth LLC now owns 756 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $671,000 after buying an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 6.9% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 90,312 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $80,063,000 after buying an additional 5,799 shares in the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the third quarter valued at approximately $42,896,000. Boltwood Capital Management increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 13.8% in the third quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 899 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $797,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 4.3% in the third quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH now owns 8,272 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,333,000 after acquiring an additional 344 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on COST shares. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $676.00 to $755.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $975.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Costco Wholesale from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $925.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $915.00 to $925.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $915.00 to $925.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $883.04.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the company’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 transaction, the insider now owns 12,492 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,545,746.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total value of $1,266,300.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,492 shares in the company, valued at $10,545,746.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total transaction of $2,844,768.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,630 shares in the company, valued at $7,671,983.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 8,174 shares of company stock worth $7,097,624. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of COST traded up $7.44 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $883.11. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,517,311 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,961,015. The company’s 50-day moving average is $875.41 and its 200-day moving average is $821.29. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $540.23 and a 52-week high of $923.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $391.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.72, a PEG ratio of 5.38 and a beta of 0.80. 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 (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.90% and a return on equity of 31.30%. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $4.86 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 of this dividend was Friday, July 26th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 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.