Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Bought by Whittier Trust Co.

Whittier Trust Co. boosted its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 60,410 shares of the retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 1,079 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale comprises approximately 0.7% of Whittier Trust Co.'s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Whittier Trust Co.'s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $55,351,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in COST. Cromwell Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,144 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,048,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,488 shares of the retailer's stock worth $3,196,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the period. SRN Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. SRN Advisors LLC now owns 3,081 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $2,823,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the period. Miramar Capital LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Miramar Capital LLC now owns 525 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $481,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sculati Wealth Management LLC raised 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 purchasing an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on COST. Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and set a $1,075.00 price objective (up from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,029.00.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale 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 value of $3,351,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at $38,242,687. The trade was a 8.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 1.5 %

NASDAQ COST traded up $13.86 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $909.26. 3,444,501 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,822,384. The stock has a market cap of $403.42 billion, a PE ratio of 53.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $987.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $945.45. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $697.27 and a 52 week high of $1,078.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. The company had revenue of $63.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $63.02 billion. Analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio 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.