Ballast Inc. Has $1.93 Million Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Ballast Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,928 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 86 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for 0.7% of Ballast Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Ballast Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,933,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,108,655 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $10,287,718,000 after buying an additional 333,308 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 18.0% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,634,627 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,941,708,000 after buying an additional 1,315,174 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 118,320.2% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,396,524 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,376,513,000 after buying an additional 7,390,278 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,134,947 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,901,040,000 after buying an additional 210,586 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,328,844,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the topic of a number of research reports. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $580.00 to $670.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $693.00 to $741.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of 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, Evercore ISI raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $640.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 12th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $668.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $662.30, for a total value of $927,220.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,220,540.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $662.30, for a total value of $927,220.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,220,540.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Yoram Rubanenko sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $680.33, for a total value of $1,700,825.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,910 shares in the company, valued at $4,020,750.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,582 shares of company stock worth $10,736,778 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $732.63 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $324.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.92, a PEG ratio of 5.06 and a beta of 0.77. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $476.75 and a 52-week high of $787.08. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $724.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $642.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.93.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $58.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.11 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 2.73%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.30 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 2nd were issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 1st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 26.68%.

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.