1,740 Shares in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) Bought by Zions Bancorporation National Association UT

Key Points

• Zions Bancorporation National Association UT has invested approximately $1.65 million in Costco Wholesale Corporation by acquiring 1,740 shares in the first quarter of 2023.
• Insider trading activity at Costco includes significant sales by executive vice presidents, with one executive selling 4,000 shares for about $3.9 million, indicating a potential decrease in confidence among company insiders.
• Several brokerages have recently upgraded Costco's stock rating, with an average target price now estimated at $1,050, reflecting positive sentiment among analysts.

Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 1,740 shares of the retailer's stock, valued at approximately $1,646,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,644,711 shares of the retailer's stock worth $40,332,515,000 after acquiring an additional 443,101 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 106,402.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,160,190 shares of the retailer's stock worth $7,717,744,000 after acquiring an additional 8,152,528 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,257,809 shares of the retailer's stock worth $4,817,573,000 after acquiring an additional 587,303 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,990,957 shares of the retailer's stock worth $3,656,828,000 after acquiring an additional 18,897 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.9% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,357,630 shares of the retailer's stock worth $3,175,579,000 after acquiring an additional 125,441 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $980.00, for a total transaction of $536,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 11,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,300,380. This represents a 4.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,002.77, for a total value of $3,008,310.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 58,543 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $58,705,164.11. This represents a 4.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 9,547 shares of company stock worth $9,472,510 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.8%

NASDAQ COST traded up $7.76 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $988.74. 2,288,841 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,222,014. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The company has a market cap of $438.48 billion, a PE ratio of 56.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.10 and a beta of 0.96. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $977.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $985.43. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 52 week low of $852.40 and a 52 week high of $1,078.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.48% and a net margin of 2.92%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.78 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 1st will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.50%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Erste Group Bank lowered Costco Wholesale from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,050.00.

About Costco Wholesale

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.