Biondo Investment Advisors LLC Acquires 124 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Biondo Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,219 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 124 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for about 1.9% of Biondo Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Biondo Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $13,945,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in COST. United Bank grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 5,962 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,285,000 after acquiring an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 182.1% in the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 409 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $363,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Peterson Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Peterson Wealth Management now owns 7,297 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,469,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 5,377 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,767,000 after buying an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Isthmus Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $328,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on COST. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $1,075.00 price target (up from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Raymond James raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $990.00 to $1,030.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $755.00 to $907.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,029.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total value of $830,304.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,445,926.72. This represents a 11.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total transaction of $1,034,011.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 5,600 shares of company stock worth $5,215,915. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $929.66 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $988.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $946.18. The company has a market cap of $412.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.59, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.09 by ($0.07). The business 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%. Analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 27.09%.

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.