City Holding Co. Grows Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

City Holding Co. raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 8,499 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 146 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises about 1.1% of City Holding Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. City Holding Co.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $8,413,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of COST. Bulwark Capital Corp acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 900.0% during the first quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC now owns 40 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. eCIO Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter valued at about $48,000. Aspect Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 24.4% during the first quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 56 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ransom Advisory Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter valued at about $61,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total transaction of $3,899,840.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 5,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,629,419.04. This trade represents a 40.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total transaction of $595,230.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares in the company, valued at $2,343,222.10. The trade was a 20.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on COST. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,042.00 to $1,033.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, September 18th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,225.00 to $1,130.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,025.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,137.00 to $1,140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,069.58.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $915.95 on Monday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a twelve month low of $867.16 and a twelve month high of $1,078.23. The company’s 50 day moving average is $955.70 and its 200 day moving average is $971.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company has a market cap of $406.21 billion, a PE ratio of 50.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.15 and a beta of 0.97.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.81 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $86.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.01 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.94% and a return on equity of 30.09%. The business’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.15 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.56%.

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.