New Covenant Trust Company N.A. Sells 13 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

New Covenant Trust Company N.A. decreased its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 3.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 327 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 13 shares during the quarter. New Covenant Trust Company N.A.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $304,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SRN Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. SRN Advisors LLC now owns 3,081 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,823,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Miramar Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Miramar Capital LLC now owns 525 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $481,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 22.2% during the fourth quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 55 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Peninsula Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Peninsula Wealth LLC now owns 818 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $749,000 after buying an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bosun Asset Management LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Bosun Asset Management LLC now owns 636 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $583,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on COST shares. Mizuho started coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, April 11th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $975.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,060.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,034.79.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of COST opened at $1,001.92 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $444.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.93 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.52. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1 year low of $793.00 and a 1 year high of $1,078.24. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $1,003.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $981.25.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 30.48%. Costco Wholesale’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.78 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 29.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,002.77, for a total transaction of $3,008,310.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 58,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,705,164.11. This represents a 4.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $980.00, for a total transaction of $536,060.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,300,380. This trade represents a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 10,647 shares of company stock worth $10,530,961. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.