Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Shares Purchased by Trust Co of the South

Trust Co of the South lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 140.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,541 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 900 shares during the period. Trust Co of the South’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,426,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of COST. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.7% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,356,271 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $42,920,107,000 after buying an additional 711,560 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 18,325,416 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $18,141,062,000 after acquiring an additional 90,107 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,275,056 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $10,124,263,000 after acquiring an additional 150,844 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $5,692,035,000. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,332,009 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,097,127,000 after acquiring an additional 18,045 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI lowered 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, September 26th. HSBC lowered their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,045.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,225.00 to $1,130.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,033.00 to $926.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $992.70.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $860.56 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $915.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $949.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $382.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.99 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.53. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12 month low of $851.40 and a 12 month high of $1,078.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 11th. The retailer reported $4.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.27 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $67.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $67.03 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 29.35% and a net margin of 2.96%.Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.04 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st were paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 31st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, insider Tiffany Marie Barbre sold 1,239 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $934.62, for a total transaction of $1,157,994.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 5,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,817,966.10. The trade was a 19.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 2,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $935.68, for a total transaction of $2,526,336.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 6,851 shares in the company, valued at $6,410,343.68. This trade represents a 28.27% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 9,720 shares of company stock valued at $9,010,257. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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.