Renasant Bank Purchases 232 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Renasant Bank increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 28.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,047 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 232 shares during the period. Renasant Bank’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $959,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Swedbank AB lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.5% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 443,747 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $393,391,000 after purchasing an additional 6,495 shares during the last quarter. United Bank raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 5,962 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,285,000 after buying an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. Bell Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Bell Bank now owns 2,332 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,067,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Cable Hill Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 15.3% during the 3rd quarter. Cable Hill Partners LLC now owns 1,369 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,214,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fortis Capital Management LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 3.1% in the third quarter. Fortis Capital Management LLC now owns 5,938 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,265,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on COST. UBS Group lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $840.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. DA Davidson increased 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. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $1,075.00 price target (up from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Roth Mkm upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $755.00 to $907.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,030.43.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 3.9 %

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $890.62 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $697.27 and a 12-month high of $1,078.24. The company has a market cap of $395.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.30, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.81. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $990.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $944.14.

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

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.09%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at $38,242,687. This trade represents a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.