Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST is Haverford Trust Co's 6th Largest Position

Key Points

• Costco Wholesale Corporation is Haverford Trust Co's 6th largest position, making up about 2.9% of their holdings, valued at approximately $284.1 million after a 1.2% decrease in shares.
• Recent analyst reports reflect positive sentiment, with Morgan Stanley increasing its price target for Costco shares from $1,150 to $1,225 and maintaining an "overweight" rating.
• Costco announced a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share, with a current annualized dividend yield of 0.5%.

Haverford Trust Co decreased its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 1.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 300,411 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 3,687 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale makes up about 2.9% of Haverford Trust Co's holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Haverford Trust Co owned approximately 0.07% of Costco Wholesale worth $284,123,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in COST. Bosun Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Bosun Asset Management LLC now owns 636 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $583,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Corps Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Corps Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,547 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,463,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 8.6% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 126 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $119,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Rooted Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Rooted Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 441 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $404,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank & Trust Co raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 20.4% during the 1st quarter. Bank & Trust Co now owns 65 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $980.00, for a total value of $536,060.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 11,531 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,300,380. This represents a 4.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total transaction of $3,899,840.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 5,774 shares in the company, valued at $5,629,419.04. This trade represents a 40.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 10,147 shares of company stock worth $10,067,740. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COST has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Loop Capital lowered their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,050.00.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $958.54 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12 month low of $867.16 and a 12 month high of $1,078.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $425.09 billion, a PE ratio of 54.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.03 and a beta of 0.96. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $969.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $985.46.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. The firm 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%. The company's revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.78 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st were given a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.

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