Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV Purchases 2,510 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV boosted its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 20.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 14,773 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 2,510 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for approximately 0.9% of Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $9,751,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of COST. Richelieu Gestion SA purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, AJOVista LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $72,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on COST shares. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $680.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $630.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $800.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday, May 6th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $696.88.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at $4,785,786.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ:COST traded up $13.39 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $809.73. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,622,970 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,621,363. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $476.75 and a 1 year high of $816.87. 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 stock has a market cap of $359.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.96, a PEG ratio of 5.39 and a beta of 0.77. The business’s fifty day moving average is $742.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $696.37.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.09. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.73% and a return on equity of 28.80%. The company had revenue of $58.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.30 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 25th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.35%.

Costco Wholesale Company 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.