Centre Asset Management LLC Acquires 149 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Centre Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 3.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,137 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the period. Centre Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,766,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of COST. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 18.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,634,627 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,941,708,000 after acquiring an additional 1,315,174 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.4% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,210,385 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,069,186,000 after acquiring an additional 111,505 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 118,320.2% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,396,524 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,376,513,000 after acquiring an additional 7,390,278 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 10.6% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,595,523 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,780,247,000 after acquiring an additional 535,776 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,328,844,000. 66.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,565 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $533.00, for a total transaction of $834,145.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 13,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,104,357. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on COST. VNET Group reaffirmed a “reiterates” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, June 29th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $595.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 8th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $575.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, August 31st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Wednesday, August 23rd. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $566.63.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST opened at $564.77 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $447.90 and a one year high of $571.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $550.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $518.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $250.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.79.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 25th were paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 24th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.22%.

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, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Japan, Korea, Australia, Spain, France, Iceland, China, and Taiwan. It offers branded and private-label products in a range of merchandise categories.