Thomasville National Bank Has $762,000 Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Thomasville National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 832 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the period. Thomasville National Bank’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $762,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quest Partners LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 1,300.0% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 308 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $262,000 after buying an additional 286 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 11.7% in the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 15,588 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $13,250,000 after purchasing an additional 1,632 shares during the last quarter. Lyell Wealth Management LP increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Lyell Wealth Management LP now owns 27,104 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $23,038,000 after purchasing an additional 548 shares during the last quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 2,566 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,181,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 2nd quarter worth about $6,534,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. StockNews.com lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $940.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,013.59.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total value of $1,266,866.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,514,232. This represents a 4.91 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $896.71, for a total value of $1,793,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,155,409.10. The trade was a 16.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock traded down $10.79 during trading on Monday, reaching $926.15. The stock had a trading volume of 605,389 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,763,207. The company has a market capitalization of $411.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.38, a P/E/G ratio of 6.02 and a beta of 0.84. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $947.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $899.20. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $675.96 and a 52 week high of $1,008.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 27.25%.

About Costco Wholesale

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.