Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Stake Lessened by M&T Bank Corp

M&T Bank Corp lessened its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 226,633 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 2,852 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $200,915,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of COST. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 557.1% during the second quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 46 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Fairway Wealth LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 230.0% in the 2nd quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 66 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 3rd quarter valued at $58,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $891.15, for a total value of $3,921,060.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,091,512.30. The trade was a 30.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total transaction of $1,266,866.88. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,514,232. The trade was a 4.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 11,016 shares of company stock worth $9,826,115. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the subject of several recent research reports. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $880.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Barclays boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $940.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,011.74.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

NASDAQ:COST opened at $954.07 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The stock has a market cap of $422.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.02, a PEG ratio of 6.02 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $934.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $890.17. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $640.51 and a one year high of $1,008.25.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 33.19%. The business had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $79.91 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.86 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.25%.

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.