Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Stock Holdings Lowered by Provident Trust Co.

Provident Trust Co. lowered its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 564,503 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 166 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale makes up approximately 10.2% of Provident Trust Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Provident Trust Co. owned approximately 0.13% of Costco Wholesale worth $558,824,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in COST. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter valued at approximately $3,461,159,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 418,980.3% during the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 2,359,422 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,335,686,000 after acquiring an additional 2,358,859 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,644,711 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $40,332,515,000 after acquiring an additional 443,101 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 84.0% during the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 812,188 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $768,114,000 after acquiring an additional 370,806 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2,369.5% during the second quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 323,288 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $320,036,000 after acquiring an additional 310,197 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, insider Tiffany Marie Barbre sold 1,239 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 5,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,817,966.10. The trade was a 19.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the business’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 directly owned 9,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,912,100. The trade was a 25.77% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 7,920 shares of company stock worth $7,373,175. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.9%

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $920.18 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $940.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $970.92. The company has a market cap of $407.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.53, a P/E/G ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.98. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 52-week low of $867.34 and a 52-week high of $1,078.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.81 by $0.06. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.94% and a return on equity of 30.09%. The firm had revenue of $86.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.15 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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 presently 28.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COST has been the subject of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,160.00 to $1,050.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 26th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $1,000.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,042.00 to $1,033.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,005.00 to $947.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,068.15.

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.