Raymond James Trust N.A. Grows Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 8.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,792 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,271 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $5,950,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 21.0% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,049,567 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,792,598,000 after buying an additional 876,624 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 4.8% during the second quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,077,579 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,662,043,000 after buying an additional 551,799 shares during the last quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 86.2% in the 3rd quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC now owns 1,097,045 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $389,451,000 after purchasing an additional 507,918 shares during the last quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2,325.2% in the 3rd quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 304,004 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $107,921,000 after purchasing an additional 291,469 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 15.5% in the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,797,829 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $545,119,000 after purchasing an additional 240,891 shares during the last quarter. 67.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $375.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $344.00 to $347.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 7th. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $422.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Wednesday, December 2nd. Loop Capital boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 3rd. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $412.00 to $419.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 5th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Costco Wholesale currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $386.64.

In other Costco Wholesale news, VP Patrick J. Callans sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $374.65, for a total transaction of $936,625.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 59,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,418,306.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,199 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $366.48, for a total transaction of $439,409.52. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 20,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,366,248. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,575 shares of company stock valued at $7,626,833 in the last quarter. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $366.95 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $373.53 and a 200 day moving average of $354.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $162.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.67, a P/E/G ratio of 4.26 and a beta of 0.66. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $271.28 and a 12-month high of $393.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, December 9th. The retailer reported $2.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $43.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $42.26 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.50% and a return on equity of 24.50%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.73 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 9.95 EPS for the current year.

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, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Japan, Korea, Australia, Spain, France, Iceland, China, and Taiwan. It offers branded and private-label products in a range of merchandise categories.

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