Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp Sells 65 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp trimmed its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,112 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 65 shares during the quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $4,034,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Howard Financial Services LTD. boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 870 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $574,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. First National Corp MA ADV boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. First National Corp MA ADV now owns 3,098 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,045,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Morton Capital Management LLC CA boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Morton Capital Management LLC CA now owns 1,564 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,032,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. now owns 3,211 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,120,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Resource Group boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Advisory Resource Group now owns 1,291 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $852,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director W Craig Jelinek sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $685.93, for a total value of $5,487,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 216,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $148,306,297.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Caton Frates sold 740 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $683.50, for a total transaction of $505,790.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,721 shares in the company, valued at $4,593,803.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director W Craig Jelinek sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $685.93, for a total value of $5,487,440.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 216,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $148,306,297.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 15,582 shares of company stock valued at $10,736,778. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on COST shares. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $640.00 to $725.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 15th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 15th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $585.00 to $630.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $615.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 15th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $668.50.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.1 %

COST traded up $0.55 on Friday, reaching $732.63. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,713,268 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,605,208. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $725.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $643.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The company has a market capitalization of $324.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.92, a P/E/G ratio of 5.06 and a beta of 0.77. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $476.75 and a fifty-two week high of $787.08.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $58.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.11 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 2.73%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.30 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 2nd were issued a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 1st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 26.68%.

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.