Thomasville National Bank Grows Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Thomasville National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 850 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 18 shares during the period. Thomasville National Bank’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $804,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of COST. Capital & Planning LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 28.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 3,756 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,441,000 after buying an additional 837 shares during the period. Redmond Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth $1,214,000. May Barnhard Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth $485,000. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 3,852 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,529,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 19,825 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $18,165,000 after purchasing an additional 2,172 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,014.15, for a total value of $2,028,300.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,326,171.50. This trade represents a 19.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total value of $830,304.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at $6,445,926.72. This represents a 11.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 11,000 shares of company stock valued at $10,825,205. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on COST. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price target on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,070.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,035.32.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $1,002.71 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $793.00 and a 52 week high of $1,078.24. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $998.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $980.70. The firm has a market cap of $444.68 billion, a PE ratio of 58.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. The business had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.78 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.50%.

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.