Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Shares Acquired by Park National Corp OH

Park National Corp OH lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 34,367 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 943 shares during the period. Park National Corp OH’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $31,811,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Rowlandmiller & PARTNERS.ADV grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 15.6% during the 3rd quarter. Rowlandmiller & PARTNERS.ADV now owns 5,836 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,402,000 after buying an additional 787 shares during the last quarter. Farmers Trust Co. lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 4.8% in the third quarter. Farmers Trust Co. now owns 263 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $243,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Rydar Equities Inc. acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,426,000. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 42.1% during the second quarter. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 560 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $554,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caldwell Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $14,747,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP William Richard Wilcox sold 2,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $930.13, for a total transaction of $2,232,312.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 2,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,860,260. The trade was a 54.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Tiffany Marie Barbre sold 1,239 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $934.62, for a total transaction of $1,157,994.18. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 5,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,817,966.10. This represents a 19.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 9,720 shares of company stock worth $9,010,257. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 2.7%

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $860.56 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $915.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $949.15. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $851.40 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.23. The firm has a market cap of $382.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.99 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 11th. The retailer reported $4.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.27 by $0.07. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.96% and a return on equity of 29.35%. The firm had revenue of $67.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $67.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.04 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 31st. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 27.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. HSBC dropped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,045.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Argus increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,125.00 to $1,000.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $992.70.

Costco Wholesale Company 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.