Truist Financial Corp Has $219.07 Million Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Truist Financial Corp cut its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 10.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 331,886 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 38,839 shares during the quarter. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $219,071,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Richelieu Gestion SA acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 200.0% during the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Steph & Co. raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 42.3% in the third quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 74 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COST has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $795.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Loop Capital cut their target price on Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $694.48.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,785,786.85. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 3,727 shares of company stock valued at $2,682,948. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:COST traded up $7.32 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $729.18. The company had a trading volume of 1,523,745 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,055,590. 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 Co. has a one year low of $476.75 and a one year high of $787.08. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $730.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $666.04. The company has a market capitalization of $323.39 billion, a PE ratio of 47.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 0.77.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.11 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.30 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th will be given a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 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.