TIAA Trust National Association Buys 108 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

TIAA Trust National Association lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,076 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. TIAA Trust National Association’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $15,441,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,763 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,164,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 28.9% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 272,288 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $179,822,000 after purchasing an additional 61,122 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 21,514 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $14,201,000 after buying an additional 2,909 shares during the period. Zhang Financial LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 3.8% in the first quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 1,010 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $740,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Finally, Strong Tower Advisory Services boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 7.9% during the first quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services now owns 1,867 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,346,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Argus increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $805.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Roth Mkm reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $676.00 price target (up from $650.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, May 31st. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $875.00 price target (up previously from $800.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, May 31st. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $870.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $905.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $799.33.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.1 %

COST stock traded down $1.24 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $838.13. The company had a trading volume of 1,984,385 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,042,677. The company has a market capitalization of $371.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.93, a PEG ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 0.78. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $530.56 and a 52 week high of $896.67. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $837.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $760.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.45.

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

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 26th will be given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 26th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total transaction of $1,266,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,492 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,545,746.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total transaction of $1,266,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,492 shares in the company, valued at $10,545,746.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,350 shares of company stock worth $2,837,131 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.