Heritage Trust Co Acquires New Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Heritage Trust Co purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 1,397 shares of the retailer's stock, valued at approximately $1,280,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of COST. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at $5,182,316,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 74,796.3% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,521,893 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,394,465,000 after purchasing an additional 1,519,861 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its stake 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 worth $729,476,000 after acquiring an additional 795,345 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,201,610 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $38,668,069,000 after buying an additional 455,043 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 55.7% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,068,772 shares of the retailer's stock worth $979,284,000 after buying an additional 382,367 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

COST stock traded up $15.91 on Monday, hitting $979.32. The company had a trading volume of 2,218,559 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,006,426. The stock has a market cap of $434.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.51, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.95. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $702.00 and a 12-month high of $1,078.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $982.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $949.81.

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Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $63.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.02 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio is 27.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on COST shares. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Mizuho began coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $975.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,035.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,024.03.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total value of $1,034,011.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,495,211.65. This represents a 8.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was 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 owns 41,077 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $38,242,687. This represents a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 5,600 shares of company stock worth $5,215,915. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.