Park National Corp OH Sells 2,457 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) (2024)

Park National Corp OH cut its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 7.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,369 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 2,457 shares during the quarter. Park National Corp OH's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $23,714,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth $3,628,694,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 61,693.5% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,105,124 shares of the retailer's stock worth $2,049,630,000 after acquiring an additional 3,100,099 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 3,647.1% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 567,641 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $374,688,000 after acquiring an additional 552,492 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,360,168 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $26,640,940,000 after purchasing an additional 485,051 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth approximately $297,915,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was 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 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Gordon Haskett cut Costco Wholesale from a "buy" rating to an "accumulate" rating and set a $775.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, June 2nd. Telsey Advisory Group lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Loop Capital boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $890.00 to $940.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $700.00 to $765.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $751.85.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST stock traded up $2.84 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $870.75. 1,763,802 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,767,728. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $516.54 and a 52-week high of $873.96. The company has a market capitalization of $386.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.95, a P/E/G ratio of 5.74 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $783.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $728.16.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.08. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 30.02%. The company had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $58.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.43 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale's revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th were given a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 25th. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.75%.

Costco Wholesale Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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