Northwest Quadrant Wealth Management LLC Acquires 20 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Northwest Quadrant Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,727 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale accounts for 0.6% of Northwest Quadrant Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Northwest Quadrant Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,498,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in COST. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $5,182,316,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 74,796.3% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,521,893 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,394,465,000 after buying an additional 1,519,861 shares during the last quarter. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $95,452,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 100,422.3% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 796,137 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $729,476,000 after purchasing an additional 795,345 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,257,809 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,817,573,000 after purchasing an additional 587,303 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,045.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,024.03.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total transaction of $830,304.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. This represents a 11.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total transaction of $3,924,280.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,161,193.58. This represents a 8.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 9,600 shares of company stock valued at $9,140,195. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $999.03 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $957.50 and a 200-day moving average of $965.16. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $771.43 and a 1 year high of $1,078.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The company has a market capitalization of $443.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.66, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share (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 predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 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 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.36%.

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.