National Bank of Canada FI Buys 222,240 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 49.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 667,260 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 222,240 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale comprises 0.7% of National Bank of Canada FI’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. National Bank of Canada FI owned about 0.15% of Costco Wholesale worth $434,038,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Richelieu Gestion SA purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 200.0% in the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Steph & Co. increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 42.3% in the third quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 74 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth $49,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total transaction of $1,072,245.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,727 shares of company stock valued at $2,682,948 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

COST stock traded up $11.46 during trading on Friday, reaching $743.90. The company had a trading volume of 2,323,300 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,605,560. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $730.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $671.71. The company has a market cap of $329.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.88 and a beta of 0.77. 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 twelve month low of $476.75 and a twelve month high of $787.08.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by $0.09. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.73% and a return on equity of 28.80%. The firm had revenue of $58.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.30 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Roth Mkm increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $601.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Loop Capital cut their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $795.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $694.48.

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.