Union Savings Bank Sells 18 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

Union Savings Bank trimmed its position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,456 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 18 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale comprises approximately 1.1% of Union Savings Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Union Savings Bank’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,323,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in COST. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,201,610 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $38,668,069,000 after buying an additional 455,043 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,739,175 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,901,249,000 after acquiring an additional 252,118 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,457,824 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,665,921,000 after acquiring an additional 149,209 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 106,402.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,160,190 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,717,744,000 after acquiring an additional 8,152,528 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at $5,182,316,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $980.00, for a total transaction of $536,060.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,300,380. The trade was a 4.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total value of $830,304.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. The trade was a 11.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 11,547 shares of company stock worth $11,361,265. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on COST shares. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Mizuho started coverage on Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, April 11th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $975.00 target price on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,034.79.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

NASDAQ COST opened at $980.29 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $1,002.94 and its 200-day moving average is $981.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company has a market capitalization of $434.74 billion, a PE ratio of 55.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.79 and a beta of 1.00. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12-month low of $793.00 and a 12-month high of $1,078.24.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 30.48%. The firm had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.78 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd were given a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 29.50%.

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.