Whittier Trust Co. Increases Stake in Costco Wholesale Co.

Whittier Trust Co. has increased its investment in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, as reported in its recent disclosure to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). After this adjustment, the firm now owns a total of 60,410 shares of the retailer's stock, having added 1,079 additional shares in the period.

Costco Wholesale makes up about 0.7% of Whittier Trust Co.'s overall investment portfolio, ranking as the company's 25th largest position. At the conclusion of the last quarter, the value of Whittier Trust Co.'s holdings in Costco was approximately $55,351,000.

Recently, several other large institutional investors have also adjusted their positions in Costco Wholesale. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in the company by 1.7% in the third quarter, now owning 9,487,057 shares valued at around $8.38 billion after adding 162,191 shares in that quarter. Similarly, FMR LLC increased its position by 3.6%, acquiring a total of 9,308,615 shares worth about $8.25 billion subsequent to a purchase of 324,973 shares. Jennison Associates LLC grew its investment by 3.8%, bringing its total to 3,399,127 shares valued at $3.01 billion after an addition of 125,444 shares.

Fisher Asset Management LLC also increased its holdings in Costco by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, yielding 3,077,905 shares valued at $2.82 billion after buying 43,414 shares. Furthermore, UBS AM, a unit of UBS Asset Management, boosted its stake by 2.3%, owning now 3,075,065 shares valued at $2.73 billion after acquiring 70,561 shares. Overall, institutional investors and hedge funds control 68.48% of Costco Wholesale's stock.

Analyst Ratings

Various analysts have provided updates on Costco's stock. Evercore ISI raised its price target for Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,070.00 and maintained an "outperform" rating in a report released on March 11th. Robert W. Baird also increased its target from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00, affirming an "outperform" rating on March 7th. In the same vein, Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on the stock, while Jefferies Financial Group raised its target from $1,050.00 to $1,145.00 in a report on December 5th, giving it a "buy" recommendation. Additionally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted its price target from $950.00 to $1,000.00, assigning an "equal weight" rating on March 13th. As per MarketBeat data, nine research analysts have rated Costco with a hold rating and twenty-one have given it a buy rating. The company holds an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,030.43.

Insider Transactions

In other news related to Costco Wholesale, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the stock on March 11th at an average price of $931.00, totaling $3,351,600. Following this sale, he retains ownership of 41,077 shares valued at approximately $38,242,687. This transaction constitutes an 8.06% decrease in Vachris's stake. This information was disclosed in a filing with the SEC.

Costco Wholesale Performance Overview

Costco Wholesale stocks opened at $904.05 on a recent Thursday, with a market capitalization of $401.31 billion. The price-to-earnings ratio stands at 53.09 and the company has a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15, with a beta of 0.82. The retailer shows a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98, and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Over the past 52 weeks, Costco's stock has seen a low of $697.27 and a high of $1,078.24. The average price over the last 50 days is $988.75, while the 200-day average stands at $944.83.

Costco Wholesale last reported its quarterly earnings on March 6th, revealing earnings per share (EPS) of $4.02, which fell short of the consensus estimate of $4.09 by $0.07. The company demonstrated a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%, with reported revenue of $63.72 billion compared to an expected $63.02 billion. Forecasts suggest Costco Wholesale Co. is set to post an EPS of 18.03 for the current fiscal year.

Dividend Declaration

Additionally, Costco recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on February 21st. Investors who were on record as of February 7th were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share, leading to an annualized dividend of $4.64, with a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date was also set for February 7th. Presently, Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.09%.

About Costco Wholesale

Costco Wholesale Corporation operates membership warehouses across various locations, including the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, Japan, the United Kingdom, Korea, Australia, Taiwan, China, Spain, France, Iceland, New Zealand, and Sweden. The company provides a broad range of products, both branded and private-label, across various merchandise categories.

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