Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co Lowers Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co trimmed its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 26,000 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 644 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises approximately 2.6% of Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $22,100,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of COST. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the first quarter valued at about $32,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Vima LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, DSM Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $927.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $925.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Truist Financial raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $815.00 to $873.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, StockNews.com raised Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, June 2nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $824.50.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock traded down $3.57 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $877.85. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 740,217 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,967,017. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.45. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $530.56 and a one year high of $896.67. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $850.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $786.19. The stock has a market cap of $389.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.65, a P/E/G ratio of 5.79 and a beta of 0.78.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $58.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.16 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.43 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total transaction of $298,035.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,041,057.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $20,560,344. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 5,920 shares in the company, valued at $5,041,057.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 4,970 shares of company stock valued at $4,249,526. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.