First County Bank CT Sells 269 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

First County Bank CT reduced its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,595 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 269 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale comprises about 2.0% of First County Bank CT’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest holding. First County Bank CT’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $4,074,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Financial Connections Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 557.1% in the second quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 46 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the second quarter valued at about $48,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 73.5% in the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 59 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 2nd quarter worth about $50,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 3rd quarter valued at about $58,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on COST. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $855.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $880.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $1,016.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $873.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $908.81.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $891.15, for a total transaction of $3,921,060.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,202 shares in the company, valued at $9,091,512.30. This trade represents a 30.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total value of $1,266,866.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,514,232. This represents a 4.91 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 11,016 shares of company stock valued at $9,826,115. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 3.3 %

COST stock opened at $958.25 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $582.83 and a twelve month high of $962.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company has a market cap of $424.57 billion, a PE ratio of 57.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.74 and a beta of 0.80. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $900.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $863.38.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 2.90%. Costco Wholesale’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.86 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st were paid a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is 28.00%.

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.