First National Advisers LLC Has $7.53 Million Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

First National Advisers LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,214 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 279 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for approximately 1.2% of First National Advisers LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. First National Advisers LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $7,526,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,808,255 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,489,574,000 after purchasing an additional 32,074 shares during the period. Nwam LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $20,056,000. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $8,430,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,662 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,020,000 after purchasing an additional 1,001 shares during the period. Finally, Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $984,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total transaction of $3,351,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at $38,242,687. The trade was a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,030.43.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $903.92 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. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $989.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $944.47. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $697.27 and a 1-year high of $1,078.24. The stock has a market cap of $401.25 billion, a PE ratio of 53.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.81.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.09 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $63.72 billion for 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%. As a group, analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 27.09%.

About Costco Wholesale

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.