Moody National Bank Trust Division Raises Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Moody National Bank Trust Division lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST – Get Rating) by 4.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,621 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 346 shares during the quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $3,936,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Enterprise Bank & Trust Co raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Enterprise Bank & Trust Co now owns 8,327 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,801,000 after acquiring an additional 501 shares during the last quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth about $191,000. Platform Technology Partners raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Platform Technology Partners now owns 3,203 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,462,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 42.2% during the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,236 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $564,000 after purchasing an additional 367 shares during the period. Finally, Community Trust & Investment Co. purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $8,346,000. 66.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the subject of several research reports. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $575.00 to $535.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 3rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $525.00 to $520.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 3rd. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $545.00 to $530.00 in a research note on Friday, December 9th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $538.00 to $568.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 2nd. Finally, Credit Suisse Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $520.00 price target (down from $550.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday, December 20th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $550.16.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In related news, CFO Richard A. Galanti sold 2,068 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $483.32, for a total value of $999,505.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 25,350 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,252,162. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 1,500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.95, for a total transaction of $733,425.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,093 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,934,972.35. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Richard A. Galanti sold 2,068 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $483.32, for a total transaction of $999,505.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 25,350 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,252,162. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 6,068 shares of company stock worth $2,992,156 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

NASDAQ:COST traded down $0.21 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $487.05. 3,959,291 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,030,241. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $492.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $492.19. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $406.51 and a 52-week high of $612.27. The company has a market cap of $216.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.79, a P/E/G ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 2nd. The retailer reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $55.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.61 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.66% and a net margin of 2.58%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.92 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 14.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 3rd were paid a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 2nd. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.45%.

Costco Wholesale Company Profile

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Costco Wholesale Corp. engages in the operation of membership warehouses through wholly owned subsidiaries. It operates through the following geographical segments: United States, Canada, and Other International Operations. The company was founded by James D. Sinegal and Jeffrey H. Brotman in 1983 and is headquartered in Issaquah, WA.