Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Purchased by Bank of New Hampshire

Bank of New Hampshire increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,621 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises 1.2% of Bank of New Hampshire’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Bank of New Hampshire’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $4,370,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Richelieu Gestion SA acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 200.0% in the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Steph & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 42.3% in the 3rd quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 74 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth $49,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the sale, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total value of $1,043,258.16. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,395 shares in the company, valued at $8,967,534.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $7,228,600. 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 90 days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COST has been the topic of several research reports. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $680.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Tigress Financial upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Gordon Haskett cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $630.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $694.48.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock traded up $7.32 on Friday, reaching $729.18. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 514,929 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,042,834. The company has a market capitalization of $323.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.62, a P/E/G ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 0.77. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $730.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $664.86. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $476.75 and a 52 week high of $787.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its 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 business had revenue of $58.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.11 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 2.73%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.30 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th will be issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 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.