Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by Bank of Stockton

Bank of Stockton reduced its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.4% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 7,311 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 33 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for 2.0% of Bank of Stockton’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Bank of Stockton’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $6,214,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in COST. Oak Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Oak Asset Management LLC now owns 4,396 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,737,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,786 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,518,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. now owns 995 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $729,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Boltwood Capital Management boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 790 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $671,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LifePro Asset Management boosted its stake in shares of 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 last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $874.05, for a total value of $437,025.00. Following the transaction, 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 SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the firm’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 sale, the director now directly owns 5,920 shares in the company, valued at $5,041,057.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $437,025.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,015,745. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 4,970 shares of company stock valued at $4,249,526. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $925.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Roth Mkm reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $676.00 price target (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $765.00 to $830.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Argus lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $805.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $925.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $824.50.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Costco Wholesale stock traded up $1.65 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $879.21. 1,305,753 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,967,249. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.45. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $530.56 and a fifty-two week high of $896.67. The company has a market capitalization of $389.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.84 and a beta of 0.78. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $851.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $788.53.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $58.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 last year, the business earned $3.43 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders 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 payout ratio is 28.75%.

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.