Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Stock Position Lowered by Community Trust & Investment Co.

Key Points

• Community Trust & Investment Co. reduced its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation by 13.2% in the 2nd quarter, selling 2,450 shares and leaving them with 16,153 shares worth approximately $15.99 million.
• Executives at Costco, including EVP Yoram Rubanenko, have also sold significant amounts of stock, with Rubanenko selling 4,000 shares for nearly $3.9 million, reflecting a 40.92% decrease in his ownership.
• Costco has a current market capitalization of $427.08 billion, with shares recently opening at $963.03, and has declared a quarterly dividend of $1.30 for shareholders of record on August 1st.

Community Trust & Investment Co. lessened its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 13.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,153 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 2,450 shares during the quarter. Community Trust & Investment Co.'s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $15,991,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of COST. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,644,711 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $40,332,515,000 after acquiring an additional 443,101 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 106,402.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,160,190 shares of the retailer's stock worth $7,717,744,000 after purchasing an additional 8,152,528 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.4% in the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,332,009 shares of the retailer's stock worth $4,097,127,000 after purchasing an additional 18,045 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 5.2% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,907,670 shares of the retailer's stock worth $3,695,796,000 after purchasing an additional 191,985 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the first quarter worth about $3,461,159,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on COST shares. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Wednesday, August 27th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,056.67.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total value of $3,899,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 5,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,629,419.04. This trade represents a 40.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total value of $595,230.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 2,362 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. The trade was a 20.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of COST traded down $1.20 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $951.16. 4,601,598 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,916,574. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $957.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $972.23. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $867.16 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $421.82 billion, a PE ratio of 53.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.35 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 1st were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.50%.

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.