Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Cut to Hold at Truist Financial

Truist Financial downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Truist Financial currently has $873.00 target price on the retailer’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on COST. Tigress Financial upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $870.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $915.00 to $925.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Roth Mkm reiterated a neutral rating and issued a $676.00 price target (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Melius Research initiated coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Monday. They set a hold rating and a $950.00 price objective for the company. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a neutral rating and issued a $780.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, September 6th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $857.48.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of COST stock opened at $901.44 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $868.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $814.35. Costco Wholesale has a 52-week low of $540.23 and a 52-week high of $923.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $399.64 billion, a PE ratio of 56.06, a PEG ratio of 5.57 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.94.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 26th were issued a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 26th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 28.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $874.05, for a total value of $437,025.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,015,745. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Costco Wholesale news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total transaction of $1,266,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,492 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,545,746.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $874.05, for a total value of $437,025.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,015,745. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 4,974 shares of company stock valued at $4,252,856 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in COST. Wulff Hansen & CO. raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 99,208.6% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,474,733 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,253,508,000 after purchasing an additional 1,473,248 shares in the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth $510,353,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 287.3% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 836,247 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $710,802,000 after acquiring an additional 620,341 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 51,747.5% in the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 619,578 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,266,000 after acquiring an additional 618,383 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3,647.1% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 567,641 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $374,688,000 after acquiring an additional 552,492 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Costco Wholesale

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.