Rockland Trust Co. Sells 886 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Rockland Trust Co. lowered its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 42.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,190 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 886 shares during the period. Rockland Trust Co.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,055,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.8 %

COST stock traded up $7.44 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $883.11. The company had a trading volume of 1,517,311 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,961,015. 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 52 week low of $540.23 and a 52 week high of $923.83. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $875.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $821.29. The stock has a market cap of $391.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.72, a PEG ratio of 5.38 and a beta of 0.80.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued 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. The business had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.90% and a return on equity of 31.30%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.86 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,000.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $955.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $874.00 to $962.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Gordon Haskett raised shares of Costco Wholesale from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $925.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $883.04.

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.