Eastern Bank Lowers Stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Key Points

• Eastern Bank reduced its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation by 1.3% in the second quarter, holding 21,916 shares valued at approximately $21.7 million after selling 285 shares.
• Several institutional investors, including Bulwark Capital Corp and Anderson Financial Strategies LLC, have either purchased or increased their stakes in Costco, indicating ongoing investor interest.
• Research analysts have set varied price targets for Costco stock, with Mizuho lowering its target to $950 and others maintaining positive outlooks, illustrating a mix of expectations following the company's recent earnings report.

Eastern Bank lessened its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 1.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,916 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 285 shares during the period. Eastern Bank's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $21,696,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 900.0% during the first quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC now owns 40 shares of the retailer's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. eCIO Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth about $48,000. Aspect Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 24.4% during the first quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 56 shares of the retailer's stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ransom Advisory Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth about $61,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total transaction of $3,899,840.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 5,774 shares in the company, valued at $5,629,419.04. This represents a 40.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $915.00, for a total value of $3,093,615.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 9,740 shares in the company, valued at $8,912,100. The trade was a 25.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 7,981 shares of company stock worth $7,588,685 over the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $950.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. They set a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Roth Capital set a $907.00 price objective on Costco Wholesale and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and set a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,225.00 to $1,130.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,066.23.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 1.4%

NASDAQ:COST opened at $930.01 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 1.03. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a one year low of $867.34 and a one year high of $1,078.23. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $952.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $971.77. The stock has a market cap of $412.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 0.98.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.81 by $0.06. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 2.94%.The business had revenue of $86.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $86.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.15 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is presently 28.56%.

Costco Wholesale Company 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.

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