NorthRock Partners LLC Grows Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

NorthRock Partners LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 116.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,749 shares of the retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 5,772 shares during the period. NorthRock Partners LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $9,849,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at about $8,430,000. Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at about $984,000. Stanich Group LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at about $214,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted 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 acquiring an additional 252,118 shares during the period. Finally, Brentview Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at about $4,522,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Barclays upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. 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.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,024.03.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,242,687. This trade represents a 8.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total value of $830,304.00. Following the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 9,600 shares of company stock worth $9,140,195. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 1.5%

COST stock traded up $15.36 on Friday, reaching $1,025.83. 2,026,566 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,042,332. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $788.20 and a one year high of $1,078.24. 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 market cap of $455.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $959.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $966.17.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last posted 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 net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. The company had revenue of $63.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.02 billion. Research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.36%.

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.