Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Acquired by Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.

Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,134 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 478 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale comprises approximately 0.7% of Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $29,443,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Absolute Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Absolute Capital Management LLC now owns 1,669 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,530,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Palogic Value Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $204,000. Clear Investment Research LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 22.2% during the fourth quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 55 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 8,311 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,615,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 60,410 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $55,351,000 after purchasing an additional 1,079 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were 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 directly owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,242,687. This trade represents a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 1.0 %

NASDAQ COST opened at $895.40 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $397.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.58, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $697.27 and a 52-week high of $1,078.24. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $988.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $944.49. 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) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.09 by ($0.07). The firm 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%. Equities research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 27.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on COST. Roth Mkm boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $755.00 to $907.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $840.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of 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. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,029.00.

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.