First Western Trust Bank Sells 327 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

First Western Trust Bank lessened its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,500 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 327 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale accounts for about 0.5% of First Western Trust Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. First Western Trust Bank’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $11,384,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bulwark Capital Corp bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the second quarter worth $31,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 900.0% during the 1st quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC now owns 40 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. Financial Connections Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 975.0% during the 2nd quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 43 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. Finally, Frazier Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 72.0% in the 2nd quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 43 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total transaction of $595,230.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. This trade represents a 20.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 2,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $935.68, for a total transaction of $2,526,336.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 6,851 shares in the company, valued at $6,410,343.68. This represents a 28.27% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 10,320 shares of company stock worth $9,605,487 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on COST. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Daiwa Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,005.00 to $947.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,140.00 to $1,134.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,063.88.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

NASDAQ:COST opened at $914.00 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 1.03. The company has a 50-day moving average of $936.35 and a 200-day moving average of $967.41. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 52 week low of $871.71 and a 52 week high of $1,078.23. The company has a market capitalization of $405.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.19, a PEG ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.98.

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

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.56%.

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.