First County Bank CT Reduces Holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Key Points

• First County Bank CT reduced its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation by 13.1%, now owning 2,903 shares valued at approximately $2.87 million.
• Costco reported earnings of $5.87 per share for the last quarter, exceeding estimates and reflecting an 8.1% year-over-year revenue growth.
• Several institutional investors, including Nuveen LLC and Vanguard Group Inc., have modified their positions in Costco, with 68.48% of the stock owned by hedge funds and other institutions.

First County Bank CT cut its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 13.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,903 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 439 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale makes up 1.5% of First County Bank CT's investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. First County Bank CT's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,874,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of COST. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth about $3,461,159,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 418,980.3% during the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 2,359,422 shares of the retailer's stock worth $2,335,686,000 after buying an additional 2,358,859 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,644,711 shares of the retailer's stock worth $40,332,515,000 after buying an additional 443,101 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 84.0% during the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 812,188 shares of the retailer's stock worth $768,114,000 after buying an additional 370,806 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 5.2% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,907,670 shares of the retailer's stock worth $3,695,796,000 after buying an additional 191,985 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 5,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,629,419.04. The trade was a 40.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total transaction of $595,230.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. The trade was a 20.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST opened at $915.95 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 52-week low of $867.16 and a 52-week high of $1,078.23. The company has a 50 day moving average of $955.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $971.63. The company has a market cap of $406.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.30, a P/E/G ratio of 5.15 and a beta of 0.97.

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

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio is presently 28.56%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on COST. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,160.00 to $1,050.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, September 18th. They issued a "peer perform" rating for the company. Roth Capital set a $907.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,025.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,069.58.

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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