Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Purchases 485 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 21,186 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 485 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $13,984,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of COST. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 63.8% during the third quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 113 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 2,178 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,231,000 after buying an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 2,192 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,239,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 51.3% in the 3rd quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,033 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,843,000 after buying an additional 1,707 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clarity Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Clarity Financial LLC now owns 27,357 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $15,455,000 after buying an additional 452 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on COST shares. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $680.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Gordon Haskett cut shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $694.48.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total value of $1,043,258.16. Following the transaction, the director now owns 12,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,967,534.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total value of $1,072,245.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total transaction of $1,043,258.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,395 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,967,534.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 3,727 shares of company stock worth $2,682,948. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 1.0 %

NASDAQ:COST opened at $729.18 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $476.75 and a one year high of $787.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.93. The firm has a market cap of $323.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.69, a P/E/G ratio of 4.86 and a beta of 0.77. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $730.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $666.77.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.09. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.73% and a return on equity of 28.80%. The business had revenue of $58.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.30 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 30.35%.

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.