Farmers Trust Co. Reduces Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Farmers Trust Co. reduced its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 7.5% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 273 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 22 shares during the period. Farmers Trust Co.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $232,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $207,000. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 72.0% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 11,215 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,403,000 after acquiring an additional 4,696 shares during the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 582.2% in the 4th quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 1,378 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $913,000 after acquiring an additional 1,176 shares during the last quarter. River Street Advisors LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. River Street Advisors LLC now owns 2,033 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,342,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Finally, Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC now owns 36,133 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $23,851,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $927.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. StockNews.com upgraded Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, June 2nd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $875.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $920.00 to $915.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $824.50.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of COST traded down $1.54 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $863.28. 880,024 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,987,992. The stock has a market cap of $382.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.49 and a beta of 0.78. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $530.56 and a 1-year high of $896.67. The company has a 50 day moving average of $846.68 and a 200-day moving average of $779.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.94.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.16 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. The business’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.43 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 26th were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 26th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 28.75%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In related news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $848.53, for a total transaction of $1,272,795.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,992 shares in the company, valued at $9,327,041.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total value of $298,035.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,041,057.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $848.53, for a total value of $1,272,795.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,992 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,327,041.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,350 shares of company stock valued at $2,837,131 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.