National Bank of Canada FI Raises Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 49.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 667,260 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 222,240 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale makes up 0.7% of National Bank of Canada FI’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $434,038,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Noesis Capital Mangement Corp lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Noesis Capital Mangement Corp now owns 477 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $315,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. TCG Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. TCG Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,034 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,643,000 after acquiring an additional 389 shares in the last quarter. Sykon Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth about $201,000. Seven Post Investment Office LP acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth about $207,000. Finally, AJOVista LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth about $72,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on COST shares. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $800.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Loop Capital cut their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $795.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $694.48.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total transaction of $1,043,258.16. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,967,534.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total value of $1,043,258.16. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 12,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,967,534.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total value of $1,072,245.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at $4,785,786.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,727 shares of company stock valued at $2,682,948 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:COST traded up $11.46 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $743.90. 2,323,300 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,605,560. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.93. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $476.75 and a 52-week high of $787.08. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $730.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $671.71. The company has a market capitalization of $329.92 billion, a PE ratio of 48.65, a P/E/G ratio of 4.88 and a beta of 0.77.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $58.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.30 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.35%.

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.