Captrust Financial Advisors Has $129.07 Million Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Captrust Financial Advisors increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 140,860 shares of the retailer's stock after buying an additional 4,497 shares during the quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors' holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $129,066,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Collier Financial bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Barrett & Company Inc. lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 59.3% during the fourth quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. now owns 43 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,035.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,024.03.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ COST traded down $4.00 on Wednesday, hitting $1,006.50. The company had a trading volume of 1,315,647 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,029,139. The business has a 50 day moving average of $960.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $961.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $446.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.10, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $762.71 and a 12-month high of $1,078.24. 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 firm had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio is presently 30.36%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares of the company's stock, valued at $38,242,687. This trade represents a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 9,600 shares of company stock valued at $9,140,195 over 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.