First American Trust FSB Has $1.72 Million Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

First American Trust FSB trimmed its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,878 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 80 shares during the period. First American Trust FSB’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,721,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in COST. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. CA bought a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth $279,000. Zions Bancorporation N.A. grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 1,348 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,235,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. FineMark National Bank & Trust grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. FineMark National Bank & Trust now owns 6,312 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,783,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 1,913 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,754,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,198,192 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,097,867,000 after purchasing an additional 6,121 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 1.8 %

NASDAQ COST opened at $926.04 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $410.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.38, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $987.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $945.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $697.27 and a one year high of $1,078.24.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.09 by ($0.07). Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. The company had revenue of $63.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.02 billion. Research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 27.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on COST. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $840.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,029.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total value of $3,351,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,242,687. This trade represents a 8.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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.