Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Purchased by Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 5.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 22,355 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,193 shares during the quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $14,756,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Richelieu Gestion SA purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Steph & Co. increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 42.3% during the third quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 74 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 888.9% during the third quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 89 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, VP Yoram Rubanenko sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $680.33, for a total value of $1,700,825.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,910 shares in the company, valued at $4,020,750.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $662.30, for a total value of $927,220.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 13,922 shares in the company, valued at $9,220,540.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Yoram Rubanenko sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $680.33, for a total value of $1,700,825.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,020,750.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 15,582 shares of company stock worth $10,736,778. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 8th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $612.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price 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 upped their target price 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, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $615.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 15th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $668.50.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock traded up $0.55 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $732.63. 1,711,632 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,158,359. The business has a 50-day moving average of $724.29 and a 200-day moving average of $642.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $324.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.90, a P/E/G ratio of 5.07 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $476.75 and a 1 year high of $787.08.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $58.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.11 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 2.73%. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.30 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 2nd were given a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 1st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 26.68%.

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.