WASHINGTON TRUST Co Sells 325 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

WASHINGTON TRUST Co cut its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 28,280 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 325 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale comprises approximately 1.0% of WASHINGTON TRUST Co’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. WASHINGTON TRUST Co’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $27,996,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in COST. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 900.0% during the first quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC now owns 40 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. Financial Connections Group Inc. raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 975.0% in the second quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 43 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Frazier Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 72.0% during the 2nd quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 43 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup dropped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $990.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,140.00 to $1,134.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,063.88.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 2,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $935.68, for a total transaction of $2,526,336.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 6,851 shares in the company, valued at $6,410,343.68. This represents a 28.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP William Richard Wilcox sold 2,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $930.13, for a total value of $2,232,312.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 2,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,860,260. This trade represents a 54.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 10,320 shares of company stock valued at $9,605,487 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Costco Wholesale stock traded up $3.63 during trading on Thursday, reaching $917.63. The company had a trading volume of 157,473 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,253,676. The firm has a market capitalization of $406.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.98. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 52 week low of $871.71 and a 52 week high of $1,078.23. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $936.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $967.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.81 by $0.06. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 2.94%.The business had revenue of $86.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.15 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast 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 will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is 28.56%.

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.