First National Bank & Trust Co. of Newtown Increases Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

First National Bank & Trust Co. of Newtown increased its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 44.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,465 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 450 shares during the quarter. First National Bank & Trust Co. of Newtown’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,299,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,371 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,004,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 22.3% in the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 7,719 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,655,000 after buying an additional 1,408 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 47.9% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 8,507 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,232,000 after buying an additional 2,757 shares in the last quarter. Sustainable Insight Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter valued at about $219,000. Finally, Highland Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 38,814 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $28,436,000 after acquiring an additional 650 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Costco Wholesale from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $925.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $975.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $935.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Truist Financial lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $873.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $874.00 to $962.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $905.30.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total transaction of $2,844,768.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,671,983.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total value of $2,844,768.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,630 shares in the company, valued at $7,671,983.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $874.05, for a total transaction of $437,025.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,900 shares in the company, valued at $20,015,745. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 12,636 shares of company stock valued at $11,238,510. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 1.6 %

COST stock opened at $913.93 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $891.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $848.69. The company has a market capitalization of $404.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.45 and a beta of 0.80. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $562.01 and a 52 week high of $923.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 2.90%. The firm had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.91 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.86 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be given a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.00%.

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.