Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Stake Increased by Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC

Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 8.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 563 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 46 shares during the quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $516,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of COST. United Bank grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 7.5% during the third quarter. United Bank now owns 5,962 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,285,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 3rd quarter valued at $7,203,000. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 10.0% during the 3rd quarter. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,301 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,153,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Rench Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 10.6% in the third quarter. Rench Wealth Management Inc. now owns 7,056 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,256,000 after acquiring an additional 674 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.6% during the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 210,172 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $186,322,000 after acquiring an additional 5,368 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on COST. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Loop Capital cut their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $990.00 to $1,030.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,029.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total value of $1,034,011.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,495,211.65. This represents a 8.97 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total value of $3,351,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,242,687. This represents a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,600 shares of company stock worth $5,215,915 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of COST opened at $967.08 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $989.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $947.61. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $702.00 and a 52 week high of $1,078.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $429.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.79, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.09 by ($0.07). Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. The firm had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.02 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were given a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.09%.

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.