OLD Second National Bank of Aurora Lowers Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

OLD Second National Bank of Aurora lowered its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,483 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 67 shares during the period. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,959,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of COST. Peterson Wealth Services acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at $10,010,000. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 612.4% during the 4th quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 4,025 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,706,000 after buying an additional 3,460 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 70,625 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $46,618,000 after buying an additional 4,197 shares during the last quarter. KLCM Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. KLCM Advisors Inc. now owns 1,296 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $855,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at about $230,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

NASDAQ COST traded up $1.58 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $716.77. The company had a trading volume of 570,173 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,080,803. 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 simple moving average of $730.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $659.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $317.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.85, a PEG ratio of 4.77 and a beta of 0.77.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $58.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on COST. Loop Capital lowered 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. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Gordon Haskett lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $680.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $691.28.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total transaction of $1,043,258.16. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,967,534.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Costco Wholesale news, Director W Craig Jelinek sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $685.93, for a total value of $5,487,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 216,212 shares in the company, valued at $148,306,297.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total value 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 10,942 shares of company stock valued at $7,602,943. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale 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.