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

Bank of Hawaii lessened its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.3% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,580 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 21 shares during the quarter. Bank of Hawaii’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,401,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Financial Connections Group Inc. raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 557.1% in the second quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 46 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 2nd quarter valued at about $48,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 73.5% in the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 59 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the second quarter worth about $50,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 230.0% during the second quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 66 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $896.71, for a total transaction of $1,793,420.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,155,409.10. The trade was a 16.38 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total value of $1,266,866.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 27,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,514,232. This represents a 4.91 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 11,016 shares of company stock worth $9,826,115. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST stock opened at $964.01 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $901.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $866.19. The company has a market cap of $427.12 billion, a PE ratio of 58.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.95 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $582.83 and a 12-month high of $976.30.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 2.90%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.86 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st were paid a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on COST. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $985.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $935.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,000.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Loop Capital increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,005.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $980.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $908.81.

About Costco Wholesale

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.