Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC Purchases 263 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 9.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,152 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 263 shares during the quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,080,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 118,320.2% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,396,524 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,376,513,000 after acquiring an additional 7,390,278 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,328,844,000. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 18.0% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,634,627 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,941,708,000 after purchasing an additional 1,315,174 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 172.6% during the 2nd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,357,548 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $730,877,000 after purchasing an additional 859,599 shares during the last quarter. Finally, C WorldWide Group Holding A S bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $390,630,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of COST traded up $0.55 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $732.63. The company had a trading volume of 1,713,268 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,605,208. The company has a market capitalization of $324.92 billion, a PE ratio of 47.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.06 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $476.75 and a one year high of $787.08. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $725.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $643.24.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.11 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 2.73%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 2nd were given a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 1st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 26.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on COST. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Raymond James boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $580.00 to $670.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 15th. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $640.00 to $725.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 15th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $585.00 to $630.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 15th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $668.50.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $662.30, for a total transaction of $927,220.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,220,540.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $662.30, for a total transaction of $927,220.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,220,540.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Caton Frates sold 740 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $683.50, for a total value of $505,790.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,721 shares in the company, valued at $4,593,803.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 15,582 shares of company stock valued at $10,736,778 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.