Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Holdings Raised by United Bank

United Bank raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 8.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 6,441 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 479 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale makes up about 2.5% of United Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. United Bank’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $5,902,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth about $5,182,316,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 74,796.3% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 100,422.3% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 796,137 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $729,476,000 after purchasing an additional 795,345 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,201,610 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $38,668,069,000 after acquiring an additional 455,043 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 55.7% during the fourth 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 last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST stock opened at $929.66 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $697.27 and a one year high of $1,078.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $988.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $946.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $412.47 billion, a PE ratio of 54.59, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) 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 business had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.02 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total value of $830,304.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at $6,445,926.72. This trade represents a 11.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total transaction of $1,034,011.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 11,165 shares in the company, valued at $10,495,211.65. The trade was a 8.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,600 shares of company stock valued at $5,215,915 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on COST. Loop Capital dropped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. 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. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $840.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,029.00.

Costco Wholesale Company 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.