First Financial Bank Trust Division Trims Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

First Financial Bank Trust Division reduced its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 35.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 302 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 163 shares during the quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $257,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,763 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,164,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 28.9% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 272,288 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $179,822,000 after buying an additional 61,122 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 21,514 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $14,201,000 after buying an additional 2,909 shares during the period. Zhang Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 1,010 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $740,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Finally, Strong Tower Advisory Services grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.9% in the 1st 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 period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

NASDAQ:COST traded down $20.25 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $801.83. 2,818,411 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,998,352. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $530.56 and a 1 year high of $896.67. The company has a market cap of $355.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.49 and a beta of 0.78. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $843.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $772.20.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.43 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 26th will be given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 26th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 28.75%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total value of $1,266,300.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,492 shares in the company, valued at $10,545,746.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total value of $1,266,300.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,492 shares in the company, valued at $10,545,746.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $5,041,057.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,350 shares of company stock worth $2,837,131 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $874.00 to $962.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Loop Capital increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $970.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Roth Mkm reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $676.00 price objective (up from $650.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $775.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $680.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $806.42.

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.