Fulton Bank N.A. Cuts Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Fulton Bank N.A. reduced its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 7,943 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 40 shares during the period. Fulton Bank N.A.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $7,278,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of COST. Park National Corp OH boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 32,994 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $30,231,000 after buying an additional 1,536 shares during the period. One Wealth Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $259,000. Norway Savings Bank increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Norway Savings Bank now owns 3,707 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,397,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth approximately $765,000. Finally, Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,822 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,670,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $840.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $1,016.00 target price on the stock. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $880.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,013.59.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total transaction of $1,266,866.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,514,232. This trade represents a 4.91 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $896.71, for a total value of $1,793,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,155,409.10. This trade represents a 16.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 7,816 shares of company stock valued at $6,981,347. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ COST traded up $2.88 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $924.25. 725,243 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,588,601. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $944.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $897.58. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $658.26 and a 12 month high of $1,008.25. The company has a market capitalization of $410.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.27, a PEG ratio of 6.02 and a beta of 0.84. 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 Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is 27.25%.

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.