Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Acquired by First National Corp MA ADV

First National Corp MA ADV boosted its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,098 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. First National Corp MA ADV’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,045,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,108,655 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $10,287,718,000 after acquiring an additional 333,308 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 18.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,634,627 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,941,708,000 after acquiring an additional 1,315,174 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 118,320.2% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,396,524 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,376,513,000 after acquiring an additional 7,390,278 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 4.3% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,134,947 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,901,040,000 after buying an additional 210,586 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth about $2,328,844,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Northcoast Research lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $620.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, December 20th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $640.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 15th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $580.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $640.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 12th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $668.50.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total transaction of $1,072,245.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $4,785,786.85. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $662.30, for a total transaction of $927,220.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,220,540.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,582 shares of company stock valued at $10,736,778 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST stock opened at $733.09 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $723.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $641.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $325.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.07 and a beta of 0.77. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $476.75 and a 12-month high of $787.08.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $58.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.11 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.73% and a return on equity of 28.80%. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.30 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.78 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 16th. Investors of record on Friday, February 2nd were issued a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 1st. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 26.68%.

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.