Pioneer Trust Bank N A OR Decreases Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Pioneer Trust Bank N A OR cut its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,695 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 16 shares during the period. Pioneer Trust Bank N A OR’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,119,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Richelieu Gestion SA bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 200.0% in the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Steph & Co. raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 42.3% in the 3rd quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 74 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth about $49,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of COST traded up $15.63 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $779.04. The stock had a trading volume of 1,695,957 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,026,810. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $476.75 and a 1-year high of $787.08. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $731.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $675.97. The company has a market cap of $345.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.63, a PEG ratio of 4.95 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by $0.09. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.73% and a return on equity of 28.80%. The business had revenue of $58.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.11 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.30 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th will be paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total transaction of $1,072,245.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total value of $1,072,245.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,785,786.85. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,727 shares of company stock worth $2,682,948 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the topic of a number of research reports. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $630.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Gordon Haskett downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $800.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Monday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $694.48.

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.