Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by New Covenant Trust Company N.A.

New Covenant Trust Company N.A. lessened its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 357 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 16 shares during the quarter. New Covenant Trust Company N.A.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $299,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1,016.9% during the fourth quarter. GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. now owns 56,516 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $37,305,000 after purchasing an additional 51,456 shares during the period. Gilbert & Cook Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 57.3% during the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 626 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $413,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the period. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 4,948 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,266,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 11,366 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,503,000 after purchasing an additional 1,108 shares during the period. Finally, One Day In July LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. One Day In July LLC now owns 571 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $377,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total transaction of $1,266,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,545,746.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total value of $1,266,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,545,746.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $863.88, for a total value of $431,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,560,344. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 4,974 shares of company stock valued at $4,252,856. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on COST shares. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $925.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $875.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $874.00 to $962.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. StockNews.com cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $775.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $824.50.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.6 %

NASDAQ COST traded up $5.75 on Friday, reaching $892.38. 1,933,485 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,963,146. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $853.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $792.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $395.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.84 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $539.31 and a fifty-two week high of $918.93.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $58.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.16 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.43 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 26th were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 26th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.75%.

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.