First Western Trust Bank Acquires 902 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

First Western Trust Bank lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 24,960 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 902 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises about 0.7% of First Western Trust Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest position. First Western Trust Bank’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $13,438,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the second quarter worth $37,000. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN bought a new position in Costco Wholesale during the second quarter valued at $38,000. Agur Provident & Training Funds Management Ltd. bought a new position in Costco Wholesale during the first quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, 25 LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale during the first quarter valued at $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.31% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Richard A. Galanti sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $566.09, for a total transaction of $1,132,180.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 25,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,385,479.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Costco Wholesale news, CFO Richard A. Galanti sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $566.09, for a total transaction of $1,132,180.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 25,412 shares in the company, valued at $14,385,479.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Pierre Riel sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $571.12, for a total transaction of $1,713,360.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 7,422 shares in the company, valued at $4,238,852.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 19,265 shares of company stock valued at $10,797,118. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST traded up $2.70 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $579.85. The company had a trading volume of 544,044 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,801,316. The firm has a market cap of $256.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.76, a PEG ratio of 4.31 and a beta of 0.78. The business has a fifty day moving average of $564.00 and a 200-day moving average of $543.03. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $447.90 and a 12 month high of $599.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 26th. The retailer reported $4.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.79 by $0.07. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.60% and a return on equity of 28.10%. The company had revenue of $78.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $77.72 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.20 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 17th. Investors of record on Friday, November 3rd were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 2nd. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is 28.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on COST. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $535.00 to $585.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 27th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday, October 30th. Argus upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $630.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 29th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $575.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $620.00 to $605.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 2nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $586.43.

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.