Nicolet Advisory Services LLC Has $3.30 Million Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Nicolet Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 11.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,522 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the period. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $3,300,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 250.0% in the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Collier Financial bought a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Barrett & Company Inc. lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 59.3% in the fourth quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. now owns 43 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 16 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total value of $830,304.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at $6,445,926.72. This trade represents a 11.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total transaction of $3,351,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,242,687. This trade represents a 8.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 5,600 shares of company stock valued at $5,215,915. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST stock opened at $965.08 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98. The firm has a market cap of $428.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.67, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $697.27 and a 52 week high of $1,078.24. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $988.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $947.48.

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

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 27.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $990.00 to $1,030.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,075.00 target price (up from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,029.00.

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.