Park National Corp OH Purchases 1,536 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Park National Corp OH grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 4.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,994 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,536 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises 1.1% of Park National Corp OH’s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Park National Corp OH’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $30,231,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quest Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1,300.0% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 308 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $262,000 after acquiring an additional 286 shares in the last quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 284.7% in the second quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. now owns 3,809 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,238,000 after purchasing an additional 2,819 shares in the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.9% in the second quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 204,804 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $174,081,000 after purchasing an additional 3,794 shares in the last quarter. Sachetta LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.1% in the second quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 1,259 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,020,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Andra AP fonden boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.8% during the second quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 33,100 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $28,135,000 after buying an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of COST stock opened at $921.37 on Wednesday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $654.03 and a 1 year high of $1,008.25. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $944.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $897.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $409.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.10, a PEG ratio of 6.02 and a beta of 0.84.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $891.15, for a total value of $3,921,060.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,091,512.30. This represents a 30.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total transaction of $1,266,866.88. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,514,232. This represents a 4.91 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 7,816 shares of company stock worth $6,981,347 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,019.00 to $1,020.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $940.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,013.59.

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.