Central Bank & Trust Co. Sells 1,357 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Central Bank & Trust Co. trimmed its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,687 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,357 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale makes up approximately 1.9% of Central Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest position. Central Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $13,907,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,371 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,004,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 22.3% during the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 7,719 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,655,000 after buying an additional 1,408 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 21,547 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $15,729,000 after buying an additional 434 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 2,349 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,721,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MRA Advisory Group purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter valued at about $372,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the topic of several research reports. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $876.00 to $995.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $855.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Melius Research started coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $950.00 price target for the company. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $905.30.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $886.07 on Tuesday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $560.13 and a 52-week high of $923.83. The company has a 50 day moving average of $892.07 and a 200 day moving average of $847.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company has a market capitalization of $392.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.47, a P/E/G ratio of 5.40 and a beta of 0.80.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. The firm 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 revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.86 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st will be paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 28.00%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $863.88, for a total transaction of $431,940.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 23,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,560,344. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,560,344. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total value of $1,266,866.88. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 27,400 shares in the company, valued at $24,514,232. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,636 shares of company stock valued at $11,238,510 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Costco Wholesale

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.