Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. reduced its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST – Get Rating) by 3.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 76,991 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 3,157 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale makes up 1.0% of Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $35,146,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. United Bank raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 9.2% during the first quarter. United Bank now owns 5,254 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,026,000 after purchasing an additional 444 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 33.6% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 383,691 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $220,948,000 after acquiring an additional 96,566 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 87.1% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 232 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $134,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Bridgefront Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter valued at about $333,000. Finally, Next Century Growth Investors LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.9% during the first quarter. Next Century Growth Investors LLC now owns 3,414 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,965,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. 66.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale
In other news, EVP Caton Frates sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $497.35, for a total transaction of $298,410.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,320 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,148,552. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of brokerages have weighed in on COST. William Blair began coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Wednesday, April 12th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Roth Capital reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 10th. Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $560.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $575.00 to $574.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 6th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 2nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $548.72.
Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.7 %
Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $520.97 on Tuesday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $443.20 and a 52-week high of $564.75. The company has a 50 day moving average of $500.42 and a 200 day moving average of $492.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The company has a market capitalization of $230.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.59, a P/E/G ratio of 4.32 and a beta of 0.79.
Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 25th. The retailer reported $3.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.32 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $53.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $54.58 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.55% and a return on equity of 28.18%. The company’s revenue was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.17 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 14.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 5th were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 4th. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 30.22%.
Costco Wholesale Company Profile
Costco Wholesale Corp. engages in the operation of membership warehouses through wholly owned subsidiaries. It operates through the following geographical segments: United States, Canada, and Other International Operations. The company was founded by James D. Sinegal and Jeffrey H. Brotman in 1983 and is headquartered in Issaquah, WA.
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