Bailard Inc. Boosts Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Bailard Inc. increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 39,435 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 434 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale comprises about 0.8% of Bailard Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $26,030,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in COST. BIP Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 35.4% in the fourth quarter. BIP Wealth LLC now owns 906 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $598,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Solution Inc. increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 22.6% in the fourth quarter. Retirement Solution Inc. now owns 569 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $376,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 57,474 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $38,185,000 after purchasing an additional 1,629 shares in the last quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 36.4% in the fourth quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC now owns 982 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $688,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,294 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $854,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $680.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Roth Mkm raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $601.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Loop Capital cut their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $694.48.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total transaction of $1,043,258.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 12,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,967,534.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total transaction of $1,043,258.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 12,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,967,534.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,727 shares of company stock worth $2,682,948. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.2 %

Costco Wholesale stock traded up $1.21 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $723.89. The stock had a trading volume of 1,203,546 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,067,977. The company has a market capitalization of $321.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.34, a PEG ratio of 4.76 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $730.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $664.46. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $476.75 and a one year high of $787.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $58.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.11 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.73% and a return on equity of 28.80%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.30 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.68%.

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.