Peoples Financial Services CORP. Sells 312 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Peoples Financial Services CORP. cut its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 28.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 774 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 312 shares during the quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $766,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Bulwark Capital Corp bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 900.0% in the 1st quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC now owns 40 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. eCIO Inc. bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter worth about $48,000. Aspect Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 24.4% in the 1st quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 56 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank & Trust Co increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 20.4% in the 1st quarter. Bank & Trust Co now owns 65 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST stock opened at $915.95 on Monday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a one year low of $867.16 and a one year 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 market capitalization of $406.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.15 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.81 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $86.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.01 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.94% and a return on equity of 30.09%. Costco Wholesale’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.15 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on COST. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,042.00 to $1,033.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,130.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,333.00 to $1,418.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,025.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,069.58.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were 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 approximately $2,343,222.10. The trade was a 20.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Company 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.