Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Acquired by Fiera Capital Corp

Fiera Capital Corp increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 23.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 74,106 shares of the retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 14,001 shares during the quarter. Fiera Capital Corp's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $48,916,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the third quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 28,855 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $16,302,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 28.9% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 272,288 shares of the retailer's stock worth $179,822,000 after acquiring an additional 61,122 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 21,514 shares of the retailer's stock worth $14,201,000 after acquiring an additional 2,909 shares in the last quarter. Rice Partnership LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 21.0% in the third quarter. Rice Partnership LLC now owns 11,741 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $6,633,000 after acquiring an additional 2,038 shares during the period. Finally, Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 23.5% during the 4th quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC now owns 814 shares of the retailer's stock worth $538,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total transaction of $1,072,245.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total transaction of $1,072,245.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at $4,785,786.85. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,228,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.8 %

Costco Wholesale stock traded up $6.03 during trading on Thursday, reaching $793.07. The company had a trading volume of 1,999,509 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,007,065. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $476.75 and a 12-month high of $804.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.93. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $733.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $684.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $351.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.87, a PEG ratio of 5.16 and a beta of 0.77.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $58.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $59.11 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.73% and a return on equity of 28.80%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.30 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th were issued a $1.16 dividend. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.35%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COST has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. DA Davidson reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $680.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $810.00 to $820.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $820.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $695.08.

Costco Wholesale Company 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.

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