FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH Has $12.78 Million Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH cut its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 5.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,513 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 737 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale comprises about 3.2% of FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $12,780,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Stanich Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $214,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,739,175 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $8,901,249,000 after purchasing an additional 252,118 shares during the period. F&V Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter valued at about $236,000. RW Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 21.3% in the 4th quarter. RW Investment Management LLC now owns 5,624 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $5,153,000 after purchasing an additional 989 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AMJ Financial Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. AMJ Financial Wealth Management now owns 10,536 shares of the retailer's stock worth $9,654,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of COST stock opened at $990.21 on Monday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $793.00 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $439.14 billion, a PE ratio of 58.15, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $1,000.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $981.10.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. The firm had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.78 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale's revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total value of $1,034,011.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 11,165 shares in the company, valued at $10,495,211.65. This represents a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 6,987 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. This represents a 11.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,000 shares of company stock valued at $10,825,205 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,070.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Cfra Research upgraded Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Wall Street Zen raised Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,035.32.

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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