First Financial Bank Trust Division Sells 163 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

First Financial Bank Trust Division trimmed its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 35.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 302 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 163 shares during the quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $257,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of COST. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,763 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,164,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 28.9% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 272,288 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $179,822,000 after purchasing an additional 61,122 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 21,514 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $14,201,000 after purchasing an additional 2,909 shares during the last quarter. Zhang Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 1,010 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $740,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strong Tower Advisory Services increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.9% during the 1st quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services now owns 1,867 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,346,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $925.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Barclays upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $765.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $925.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday. Roth Mkm restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $676.00 price target (up from $650.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $680.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $806.42.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total value of $298,035.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,920 shares in the company, valued at $5,041,057.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total value of $298,035.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,920 shares in the company, valued at $5,041,057.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $848.53, for a total value of $1,272,795.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 10,992 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,327,041.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,350 shares of company stock worth $2,837,131 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 2.5 %

COST stock traded down $20.25 during trading on Monday, reaching $801.83. 2,818,411 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,998,352. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $530.56 and a 12 month high of $896.67. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $843.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $772.20. The company has a market capitalization of $355.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.49 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.94.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $58.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.43 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 26th will be issued a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 26th. 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.