American National Bank & Trust Grows Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

American National Bank & Trust raised its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,759 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 213 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale comprises about 2.2% of American National Bank & Trust’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. American National Bank & Trust’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $21,540,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bulwark Capital Corp bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 900.0% during the 1st quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC now owns 40 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. eCIO Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter valued at about $48,000. Aspect Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 24.4% during the 1st quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 56 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at about $59,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on COST. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Erste Group Bank lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Loop Capital cut their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,061.30.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total value of $3,899,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 5,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,629,419.04. This represents a 40.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. This trade represents a 20.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.2%

COST stock opened at $943.31 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $956.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $970.87. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $867.16 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 1.02. The company has a market cap of $418.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.31 and a beta of 0.97.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.81 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $86.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.01 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.48% and a net margin of 2.92%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.15 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st were paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is 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.