Blue Trust Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 31.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,582 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,105 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $3,895,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,763 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,164,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 15.6% during the 4th 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 raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.8% during the 1st 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. Strong Tower Advisory Services raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.9% during the 1st quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services now owns 1,867 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,346,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the period. Finally, Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 27,902 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $18,418,000 after buying an additional 1,627 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,545,746.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,545,746.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $863.88, for a total transaction of $431,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,560,344. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,970 shares of company stock valued at $4,249,526 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of COST stock traded down $6.76 on Friday, reaching $870.59. 1,516,332 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,987,382. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $848.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $781.98. The company has a market capitalization of $385.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.94, a PEG ratio of 5.73 and a beta of 0.78. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $530.56 and a twelve month high of $896.67.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.08. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 30.02%. The firm had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.43 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Investors of record on Friday, July 26th were given a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 26th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.75%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COST has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target 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. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $925.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $927.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Barclays boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $765.00 to $830.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Argus boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $805.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $824.50.

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.