WASHINGTON TRUST Co Decreases Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

WASHINGTON TRUST Co lowered its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.1% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 30,929 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 662 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale makes up about 1.0% of WASHINGTON TRUST Co’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. WASHINGTON TRUST Co’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $27,419,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Financial Connections Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 557.1% during the 2nd quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 46 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 2nd quarter valued at about $48,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 73.5% in 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 last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the second quarter worth about $50,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the third quarter worth about $58,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Roth Mkm increased their price objective 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. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $860.00 to $890.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $876.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,000.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $927.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $894.57.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.9 %

COST stock opened at $879.09 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $549.06 and a 52-week high of $923.83. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $892.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $842.70. The firm has a market cap of $389.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.05, a PEG ratio of 5.48 and a beta of 0.80.

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

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $874.05, for a total transaction of $437,025.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,015,745. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total value of $543,430.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,775 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,320,787.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $874.05, for a total value of $437,025.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,015,745. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,636 shares of company stock valued at $11,238,510 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale 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.