Peoples Bank OH Sells 41 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Peoples Bank OH trimmed its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 3.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,299 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 41 shares during the quarter. Peoples Bank OH’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $952,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in COST. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,360,168 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $26,640,940,000 after purchasing an additional 485,051 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,628,694,000. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,539,245 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,336,198,000 after purchasing an additional 132,292 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 61,693.5% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,794,480 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,844,581,000 after purchasing an additional 85,398 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

NASDAQ COST traded up $6.01 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $886.85. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,356,876 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,956,172. The stock has a market capitalization of $393.17 billion, a PE ratio of 54.95, a P/E/G ratio of 5.85 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $822.38 and a 200 day moving average of $750.76. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $525.06 and a one year high of $896.67.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 25th. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $870.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $680.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $815.00 to $873.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $875.00 price objective (up previously from $800.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $900.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Monday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $766.73.

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.