Cary Street Partners Financial LLC Acquires Shares of 25,073 Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Cary Street Partners Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 25,073 shares of the retailer's stock, valued at approximately $22,974,000. Costco Wholesale accounts for about 0.7% of Cary Street Partners Financial LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,739,175 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $8,901,249,000 after purchasing an additional 252,118 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,457,824 shares of the retailer's stock worth $8,665,921,000 after buying an additional 149,209 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth $5,182,316,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,257,809 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $4,817,573,000 after buying an additional 587,303 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on COST. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Barclays increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Monday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,024.03.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST traded down $4.39 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $1,010.50. The stock had a trading volume of 1,375,461 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,031,465. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $755.57 and a 1-year high of $1,078.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $448.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $960.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $961.18. 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 - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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). The business had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 2nd. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is 30.36%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the firm's 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 directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total transaction of $3,924,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,994 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $43,161,193.58. This trade represents a 8.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 9,600 shares of company stock valued at $9,140,195 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.