Oakworth Capital Inc. Has $1.56 Million Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Oakworth Capital Inc. grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 13.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,839 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 224 shares during the quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,563,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 33.4% in the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 15,084 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $12,821,000 after purchasing an additional 3,780 shares in the last quarter. Unique Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. Unique Wealth LLC now owns 675 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $574,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC now owns 24,353 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $20,700,000 after buying an additional 1,441 shares during the last quarter. CFM Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 7.6% during the second quarter. CFM Wealth Partners LLC now owns 10,058 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,549,000 after buying an additional 714 shares during the period. Finally, Well Done LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 27.6% during the second quarter. Well Done LLC now owns 365 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $310,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $874.05, for a total transaction of $437,025.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,015,745. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $874.05, for a total value of $437,025.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,015,745. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total transaction of $1,266,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,492 shares in the company, valued at $10,545,746.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 4,970 shares of company stock worth $4,249,526 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on COST shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $875.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Gordon Haskett upgraded 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 note on Thursday, August 8th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $925.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $775.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $824.50.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST traded down $6.76 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $870.59. The stock had a trading volume of 1,516,332 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,987,382. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $530.56 and a 1 year high of $896.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.94. The business has a fifty day moving average of $848.44 and a 200 day moving average of $782.54. The company has a market cap of $385.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.73 and a beta of 0.78.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.16 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 30.02%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.43 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

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

Costco Wholesale Company 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.