First Trust Advisors LP Acquires 19,749 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 6.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 321,209 shares of the retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 19,749 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.07% of Costco Wholesale worth $294,314,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in COST. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 250.0% during the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Collier Financial acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Barrett & Company Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 59.3% during the 4th quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. now owns 43 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at $6,445,926.72. The trade was a 11.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of Costco Wholesale 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 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 9,600 shares of company stock valued at $9,140,195 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock traded down $1.67 on Wednesday, reaching $977.56. 1,076,365 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,019,031. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $714.41 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $433.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.95. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $971.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $954.07.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last announced its 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). The firm had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. On average, analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio is presently 30.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on COST shares. DA Davidson lifted 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. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Cfra Research raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,024.03.

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.