Private Trust Co. NA Buys 32 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Private Trust Co. NA boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.5% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 6,069 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 32 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $5,380,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Financial Connections Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 557.1% in the second quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 46 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 2nd quarter worth $48,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 73.5% during the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 59 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the second quarter valued at about $50,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 230.0% in the 2nd quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 66 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total transaction of $2,844,768.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,671,983.70. This trade represents a 27.05 % 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 Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $896.71, for a total value of $1,793,420.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,210 shares in the company, valued at $9,155,409.10. This trade represents a 16.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,016 shares of company stock worth $9,826,115 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on COST shares. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $880.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Roth Mkm lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $676.00 to $755.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $955.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $1,065.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,000.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Monday, November 4th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $908.81.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of COST traded up $4.24 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $968.25. The company had a trading volume of 109,788 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,920,581. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $582.83 and a one year high of $976.30. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $901.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $866.19. The company has a market capitalization of $429.01 billion, a PE ratio of 58.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.95 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 2.90%. The business had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.91 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.86 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.00%.

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.