Huntington National Bank Has $184.92 Million Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Huntington National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 201,822 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,927 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises about 1.3% of Huntington National Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Huntington National Bank’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $184,924,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. United Bank lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 7.5% during the third quarter. United Bank now owns 5,962 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,285,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 54.4% during the 3rd quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 6,598 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,849,000 after buying an additional 2,324 shares during the period. Harmony Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 27.5% during the 3rd quarter. Harmony Asset Management LLC now owns 543 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $481,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter valued at $7,203,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on COST shares. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Monday, March 3rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Roth Mkm raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $755.00 to $907.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,029.00.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $954.40 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $697.27 and a twelve month high of $1,078.24. The company’s fifty day moving average is $988.26 and its 200-day moving average is $947.35. The stock has a market cap of $423.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.04, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.09 by ($0.07). Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. The business had revenue of $63.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.02 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 27.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total value of $830,304.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,445,926.72. This trade represents a 11.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total value of $3,351,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,242,687. This represents a 8.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 5,600 shares of company stock worth $5,215,915. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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, 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.