Equitable Trust Co. Cuts Holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Equitable Trust Co. trimmed its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,043 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 96 shares during the period. Equitable Trust Co.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $4,002,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 19,825 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $18,165,000 after purchasing an additional 2,172 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,029,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 12.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,628 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,160,000 after purchasing an additional 966 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 7.7% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 147,961 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $139,936,000 after purchasing an additional 10,639 shares during the period. Finally, Precision Wealth Strategies LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 14.2% during the first quarter. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 3,199 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,026,000 after purchasing an additional 398 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on COST shares. Argus increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of 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. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,025.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,068.04.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total transaction of $595,230.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares in the company, valued at $2,343,222.10. This trade represents a 20.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $915.00, for a total transaction of $3,093,615.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 9,740 shares in the company, valued at $8,912,100. The trade was a 25.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 1.2%

COST opened at $946.51 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $419.47 billion, a PE ratio of 51.98, a PEG ratio of 5.67 and a beta of 0.98. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1-year low of $867.34 and a 1-year high of $1,078.23. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $951.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $971.87. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.81 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $86.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.01 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.94% and a return on equity of 30.09%. The company’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.15 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

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.