CENTRAL TRUST Co Trims Position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

CENTRAL TRUST Co trimmed its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 2.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 21,035 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 513 shares during the quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $19,894,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bell Bank raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.6% in the first quarter. Bell Bank now owns 2,551 shares of the retailer's stock worth $2,413,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 187.5% in the 1st quarter. PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co now owns 11,500 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $10,876,000 after acquiring an additional 7,500 shares during the period. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 9.8% in the 1st quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,410 shares of the retailer's stock worth $5,116,000 after acquiring an additional 484 shares during the last quarter. Edge Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 10.0% during the 1st quarter. Edge Financial Advisors LLC now owns 504 shares of the retailer's stock worth $476,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. Finally, Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 15.3% during the 1st quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC now owns 128 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $121,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on COST shares. Mizuho initiated coverage on Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, April 11th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $975.00 price objective on the stock. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,034.79.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total value of $830,304.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. This trade represents a 11.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total transaction of $3,924,280.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,994 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $43,161,193.58. This represents a 8.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 11,000 shares of company stock worth $10,825,205. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:COST traded down $2.82 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $974.90. 1,506,193 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,064,250. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,002.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $981.16. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1 year low of $793.00 and a 1 year high of $1,078.24. The company has a market cap of $432.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.30, a PEG ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 1.02.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 30.48%. The business had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.93 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.78 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd were issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio is presently 29.50%.

Costco Wholesale 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.