Nicolet Advisory Services LLC Purchases 350 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Nicolet Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 11.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,522 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 350 shares during the period. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $3,300,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Martin Worley Group purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at about $726,000. Biltmore Family Office LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 28.1% in the fourth quarter. Biltmore Family Office LLC now owns 1,290 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,182,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. Disciplined Investors L.L.C. bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,849,000. OneAscent Financial Services LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 164.8% in the 4th quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 3,437 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,149,000 after buying an additional 2,139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creekmur Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC now owns 2,084 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,909,000 after buying an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,242,687. The trade was a 8.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total value of $1,034,011.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,495,211.65. This represents a 8.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,600 shares of company stock valued at $5,215,915 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST opened at $965.08 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $988.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $947.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $428.19 billion, a PE ratio of 56.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $697.27 and a one year high of $1,078.24.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 firm 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%. On average, analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 27.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on 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. Loop Capital dropped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Roth Mkm increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $755.00 to $907.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $840.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,029.00.

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.