First Hawaiian Bank Sells 727 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

First Hawaiian Bank reduced its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 7.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,934 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 727 shares during the quarter. First Hawaiian Bank’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $7,594,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 200.0% in the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Vima LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $848.53, for a total transaction of $1,272,795.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 10,992 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,327,041.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $848.53, for a total transaction of $1,272,795.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 10,992 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,327,041.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total transaction of $298,035.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,041,057.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,350 shares of company stock worth $2,837,131. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST traded up $5.19 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $822.08. The stock had a trading volume of 2,598,467 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,182,416. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $843.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $772.20. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $530.56 and a one year high of $896.67. The firm has a market cap of $364.45 billion, a PE ratio of 50.93, a P/E/G ratio of 5.49 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $58.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.43 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.97 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 26th will be paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 26th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.75%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Argus increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $805.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $925.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Loop Capital increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $970.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $710.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $805.46.

Costco Wholesale Profile

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.