Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH Purchases 344 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 4.3% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 8,272 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 344 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale makes up approximately 1.0% of Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $7,333,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in COST. Abacus Planning Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 2,139 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,896,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the period. First Financial Bank Trust Division grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 16.6% in the third quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division now owns 352 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $312,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 111.9% in the third quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 231 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $205,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the second quarter valued at about $2,250,000. Finally, Sage Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 14.7% in the 2nd quarter. Sage Advisors LLC now owns 1,100 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $935,000 after buying an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

NASDAQ:COST opened at $878.53 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $389.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.38 and a beta of 0.80. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $872.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $819.85. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $540.23 and a 12 month high of $923.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.90% and a return on equity of 31.30%. Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.86 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 26th were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 26th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on COST. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $860.00 to $890.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Gordon Haskett raised 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. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $915.00 to $925.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $927.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $883.04.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other 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 owns 8,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,671,983.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other 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 transaction of $2,844,768.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,671,983.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total transaction of $298,035.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,041,057.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 8,174 shares of company stock worth $7,097,624 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.