Faithward Advisors LLC Buys 205 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Faithward Advisors LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 4.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,898 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. Faithward Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $4,488,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of COST. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,182,316,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 74,796.3% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,521,893 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,394,465,000 after acquiring an additional 1,519,861 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 100,422.3% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 796,137 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $729,476,000 after purchasing an additional 795,345 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,201,610 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $38,668,069,000 after purchasing an additional 455,043 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 55.7% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,068,772 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $979,284,000 after purchasing an additional 382,367 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total value of $3,351,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,242,687. This trade represents a 8.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total transaction of $830,304.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. This represents a 11.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 5,600 shares of company stock worth $5,215,915. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on COST shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,029.00.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST opened at $908.13 on Tuesday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $702.00 and a 52-week high of $1,078.24. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $987.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $948.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $402.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.95.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.09 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. Research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 27.09%.

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.