First National Advisers LLC Purchases 279 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

First National Advisers LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 8,214 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 279 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises 1.2% of First National Advisers LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest position. First National Advisers LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $7,526,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in COST. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 250.0% in the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Collier Financial bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total transaction of $3,351,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 41,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,242,687. This trade represents a 8.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on COST shares. UBS Group upped 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. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $755.00 to $907.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,030.43.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST stock opened at $903.92 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $401.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.08, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.81. The business’s 50 day moving average is $989.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $944.47. 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 12-month low of $697.27 and a 12-month high of $1,078.24.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.09 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $63.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. Analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.09%.

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.