M&T Bank Corp Decreases Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

M&T Bank Corp lessened its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 260,357 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 4,811 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp owned 0.06% of Costco Wholesale worth $171,856,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Summit Financial Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the third quarter worth $228,000. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 58.2% during the 3rd quarter. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC now owns 981 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $554,000 after buying an additional 361 shares in the last quarter. S. R. Schill & Associates increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 9.3% during the third quarter. S. R. Schill & Associates now owns 2,593 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,465,000 after buying an additional 220 shares during the period. Aspire Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.4% during the third quarter. Aspire Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,945 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,229,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.8% in the third quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 215,700 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $121,862,000 after buying an additional 3,800 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of Costco Wholesale 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total value of $1,043,258.16. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 12,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,967,534.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of Costco Wholesale 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,785,786.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,727 shares of company stock valued at $2,682,948 over the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Tigress Financial upped their target price 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. Gordon Haskett lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $795.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $694.48.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 1.6 %

COST traded up $11.46 during trading on Friday, hitting $743.90. 2,323,300 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,605,560. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $730.46 and a 200 day moving average of $671.71. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $476.75 and a 12-month high of $787.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $329.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.95 and a beta of 0.77. 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 (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $58.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.11 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 2.73%. Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.30 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th will be issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.35%.

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.