First Financial Bankshares Inc Sells 92 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

First Financial Bankshares Inc cut its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 16.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 466 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 92 shares during the quarter. First Financial Bankshares Inc’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $427,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 250.0% during the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Collier Financial bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total value of $3,351,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at $38,242,687. This represents a 8.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST opened at $898.05 on Wednesday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $697.27 and a one year high of $1,078.24. The company has a market cap of $398.64 billion, a PE ratio of 52.73, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $989.21 and a 200-day moving average of $945.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.09 by ($0.07). Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. The business had revenue of $63.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.02 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the topic of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Roth Mkm boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $755.00 to $907.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,030.43.

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.