Banque Transatlantique SA Takes Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Banque Transatlantique SA acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 231,007 shares of the retailer's stock, valued at approximately $212,030,000. Costco Wholesale makes up 5.0% of Banque Transatlantique SA's holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Banque Transatlantique SA owned approximately 0.05% of Costco Wholesale as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Beck Bode LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Beck Bode LLC now owns 17,136 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $15,701,000 after buying an additional 963 shares during the period. Bearing Point Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,749,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 72,826 shares of the retailer's stock worth $66,863,000 after purchasing an additional 2,222 shares during the period. BNP Paribas boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas now owns 701 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $642,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 7,959 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $7,293,000 after buying an additional 499 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on COST. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,045.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,024.03.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

COST traded up $6.59 during trading on Monday, reaching $1,014.89. 1,950,563 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,033,033. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $961.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $960.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $450.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $746.48 and a 1 year high of $1,078.24.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 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, research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total transaction of $830,304.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. This represents a 11.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 17th. The stock was 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 directly owns 43,994 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $43,161,193.58. The trade was 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 worth $9,140,195 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

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.