Whittier Trust Co. Boosts Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Whittier Trust Co. raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 60,410 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,079 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale accounts for approximately 0.7% of Whittier Trust Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $55,351,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Cromwell Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,144 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,048,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,488 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,196,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the period. SRN Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. SRN Advisors LLC now owns 3,081 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,823,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Miramar Capital LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Miramar Capital LLC now owns 525 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $481,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the period. Finally, Sculati Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sculati Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,649 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,235,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,000.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $990.00 to $1,030.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,030.43.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ COST opened at $904.05 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $988.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $944.83. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $697.27 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.24. The company has a market cap of $401.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.09, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.02 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.09%.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 transaction of $3,351,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,242,687. The trade was a 8.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale 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.