Synovus Financial Corp Purchases 715 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Key Points

• Synovus Financial Corp increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.9% during the first quarter, acquiring an additional 715 shares and bringing its total to 38,532 shares valued at approximately $36.4 million.
• Costco Wholesale has received mixed analyst ratings, with a current average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a price target of $1,050.00, although upgrades and downgrades have varied among firms.
• The company recently paid a quarterly dividend of $1.30, representing a 0.5% yield, and has a payout ratio of 29.5%.

Synovus Financial Corp grew its position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 1.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 38,532 shares of the retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 715 shares during the quarter. Synovus Financial Corp's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $36,446,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of COST. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 19,825 shares of the retailer's stock worth $18,165,000 after acquiring an additional 2,172 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,029,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 45.0% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 117,254 shares of the retailer's stock worth $107,436,000 after acquiring an additional 36,384 shares during the period. Highview Capital Management LLC DE lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 4,813 shares of the retailer's stock worth $4,410,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 22,721 shares of the retailer's stock worth $20,819,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price target on Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Erste Group Bank lowered Costco Wholesale from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,060.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,050.00.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total value of $595,230.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 2,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. The trade was a 20.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,014.15, for a total value of $2,028,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 8,210 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,326,171.50. The trade was a 19.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 10,147 shares of company stock worth $10,067,740. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of COST opened at $958.54 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $969.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $985.06. 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 Corporation has a 52-week low of $867.16 and a 52-week high of $1,078.23. The company has a market cap of $425.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.37, a PEG ratio of 5.96 and a beta of 0.96.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last issued 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 return on equity of 30.48% and a net margin of 2.92%.The firm had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.78 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 1st were given a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. 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.

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