Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Purchases 163,063 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 2,763.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 168,963 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 163,063 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $111,529,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Howard Financial Services LTD. grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 870 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $574,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. First National Corp MA ADV grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. First National Corp MA ADV now owns 3,098 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,045,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Morton Capital Management LLC CA grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Morton Capital Management LLC CA now owns 1,564 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,032,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Insight Advisors LLC PA grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Insight Advisors LLC PA now owns 2,736 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,807,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Finally, Optas LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Optas LLC now owns 2,383 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,573,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on COST. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $795.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Roth Mkm increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $601.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Gordon Haskett lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $694.48.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of COST traded down $2.03 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $721.86. The stock had a trading volume of 1,612,268 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,062,339. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $476.75 and a 52 week high of $787.08. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $730.36 and a 200 day moving average of $664.46. The company has a market cap of $320.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.77, a P/E/G ratio of 4.81 and a beta of 0.77.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th will be given a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend 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%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total transaction of $1,072,245.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total value of $1,072,245.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now 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. Insiders sold a total of 3,727 shares of company stock worth $2,682,948 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.