Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas

Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas trimmed its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 23.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 695 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 208 shares during the quarter. Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas’ holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $459,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,134,947 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,901,040,000 after acquiring an additional 210,586 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 61,693.5% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,105,124 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,049,630,000 after purchasing an additional 3,100,099 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.9% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,689,514 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,519,468,000 after purchasing an additional 24,274 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,580,649 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,457,964,000 after purchasing an additional 28,259 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 18.3% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,088,673 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,180,016,000 after purchasing an additional 323,346 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $800.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Gordon Haskett downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $630.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $694.48.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of COST traded up $6.47 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $721.93. The company had a trading volume of 719,251 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,072,901. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $476.75 and a 1-year high of $787.08. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $730.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $662.88. The stock has a market cap of $320.18 billion, a PE ratio of 47.21, a P/E/G ratio of 4.73 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by $0.09. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.73% and a return on equity of 28.80%. The company had revenue of $58.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.30 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th will be issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total value of $1,043,258.16. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,395 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,967,534.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total transaction of $1,043,258.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 12,395 shares in the company, valued at $8,967,534.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,727 shares of company stock valued at $2,682,948. 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.