First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA Purchases 624 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 86.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,344 shares of the retailer's stock after buying an additional 624 shares during the quarter. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,231,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of COST. Farringdon Capital Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,108,000. MSH Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at $1,470,000. Zacks Investment Management raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 38,633 shares of the retailer's stock worth $35,398,000 after acquiring an additional 297 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 84,274 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $77,217,000 after acquiring an additional 1,687 shares during the period. Finally, Everest Management Corp. acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at $378,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Mizuho started coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, April 11th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $975.00 price objective on the stock. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,045.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,024.03.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total value of $1,034,011.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,165 shares in the company, valued at $10,495,211.65. This trade represents a 8.97 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total value of $3,351,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at $38,242,687. The trade was a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 5,600 shares of company stock worth $5,215,915. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:COST traded down $31.60 on Monday, hitting $962.90. The company's stock had a trading volume of 838,955 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,011,784. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $975.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $953.37. The company has a market capitalization of $427.22 billion, a PE ratio of 56.54, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.95. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $706.17 and a 1 year high of $1,078.24.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. The business had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.02 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. 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. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio is currently 27.09%.

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.