Peoples Financial Services CORP. Has $790,000 Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Peoples Financial Services CORP. boosted its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 15.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,467 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Peoples Financial Services CORP.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $790,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 21.5% in the first quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,020 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,501,000 after buying an additional 534 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.6% in the first quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC now owns 172,597 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $85,758,000 after buying an additional 1,091 shares during the period. Fragasso Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.6% in the second quarter. Fragasso Group Inc. now owns 626 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $337,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 8.6% in the first quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 105,822 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $52,580,000 after buying an additional 8,371 shares during the period. Finally, Hall Laurie J Trustee increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 19.2% in the first quarter. Hall Laurie J Trustee now owns 378 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $188,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COST has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $575.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, August 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $475.00 to $510.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 3rd. VNET Group reaffirmed a “reiterates” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, June 29th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $575.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 25th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research note on Wednesday, August 23rd. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $566.63.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,565 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $533.00, for a total transaction of $834,145.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 13,329 shares in the company, valued at $7,104,357. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of COST stock traded down $8.41 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $556.36. The company had a trading volume of 2,945,317 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,366,981. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $447.90 and a 12 month high of $571.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $551.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $519.60. The company has a market cap of $246.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.79.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 8th. Investors of record on Friday, August 25th were issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 24th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.73%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.22%.

Costco Wholesale Profile

Costco Wholesale Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the operation of membership warehouses in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Japan, Korea, Australia, Spain, France, Iceland, China, and Taiwan. It offers branded and private-label products in a range of merchandise categories.