Arbor Trust Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 546 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Arbor Trust Wealth Advisors LLC cut its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 10.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,492 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 546 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale comprises 2.2% of Arbor Trust Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Arbor Trust Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $4,447,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Merrion Investment Management Co LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 5.7% during the second quarter. Merrion Investment Management Co LLC now owns 1,400 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,386,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT now owns 1,778 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,760,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC now owns 5,463 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,408,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Midwest Trust Co purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 2nd quarter valued at $74,714,000. Finally, LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on COST. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,140.00 to $1,134.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $950.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,042.00 to $1,033.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 26th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Argus raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,063.88.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST stock opened at $922.74 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $408.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.67, a PEG ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.98. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 52-week low of $871.71 and a 52-week high of $1,078.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company’s 50 day moving average is $938.12 and its 200 day moving average is $968.70.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.81 by $0.06. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 2.94%.The business had revenue of $86.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.15 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 28.56%.

Insider Activity

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $915.00, for a total transaction of $3,093,615.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 9,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,912,100. This represents a 25.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Tiffany Marie Barbre sold 1,239 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $934.62, for a total transaction of $1,157,994.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 5,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,817,966.10. The trade was a 19.38% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 7,920 shares of company stock valued at $7,373,175. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.