Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by First Financial Bank Trust Division

First Financial Bank Trust Division lowered its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 10.4% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 465 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 54 shares during the period. First Financial Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $341,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Enterprise Financial Services Corp boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp now owns 892 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $589,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the period. Howard Financial Services LTD. boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 870 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $574,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. First National Corp MA ADV boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. First National Corp MA ADV now owns 3,098 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,045,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. Morton Capital Management LLC CA boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Morton Capital Management LLC CA now owns 1,564 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,032,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. Finally, Insight Advisors LLC PA boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Insight Advisors LLC PA now owns 2,736 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,807,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ:COST opened at $870.75 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $386.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.95, a PEG ratio of 5.74 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $780.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $727.16. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $516.54 and a 12-month high of $873.96.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results 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 analyst estimates of $58.16 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.43 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.96 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th were issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 28.75%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $750.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $875.00 price objective (up previously from $800.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $751.85.

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.