First National Bank & Trust Co. of Newtown Grows Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

First National Bank & Trust Co. of Newtown boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 8.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,015 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. First National Bank & Trust Co. of Newtown’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $863,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Oak Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Oak Asset Management LLC now owns 4,396 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,737,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares in the last quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.7% in the second quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,786 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,518,000 after buying an additional 12 shares during the period. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.3% during the first quarter. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. now owns 995 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $729,000 after buying an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Boltwood Capital Management lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 790 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $671,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LifePro Asset Management boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. LifePro Asset Management now owns 358 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $304,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ:COST traded down $3.86 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $877.56. 1,439,810 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,940,082. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $530.56 and a 12 month high of $896.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $389.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.84 and a beta of 0.78. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $850.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $786.19. 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 earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.08. The firm 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.43 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 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. Investors of record on Friday, July 26th were given 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 was Friday, July 26th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on COST. Barclays upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $765.00 to $830.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $927.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $710.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $775.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $824.50.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total value of $1,266,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,492 shares in the company, valued at $10,545,746.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 12,492 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,545,746.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,041,057.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 4,970 shares of company stock worth $4,249,526 over the last three months. 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.