Adirondack Trust Co. Lowers Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Adirondack Trust Co. reduced its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,619 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 15 shares during the quarter. Adirondack Trust Co.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,186,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Enterprise Financial Services Corp grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp now owns 892 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $589,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 870 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $574,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. First National Corp MA ADV grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. First National Corp MA ADV now owns 3,098 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,045,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Morton Capital Management LLC CA grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Morton Capital Management LLC CA now owns 1,564 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,032,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Insight Advisors LLC PA grew its position 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 worth $1,807,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $750.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $815.00 to $873.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. StockNews.com upgraded Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 2nd. Barclays lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $700.00 to $765.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $905.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $752.96.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 1.0 %

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $862.44 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $382.35 billion, a PE ratio of 53.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.76 and a beta of 0.79. 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 Co. has a one year low of $516.54 and a one year high of $873.96. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $785.79 and a 200 day moving average of $729.10.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.16 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.43 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.96 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th were given a $1.16 dividend. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.