Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Sells 9,779 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC trimmed its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 7.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 125,885 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 9,779 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $83,094,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. RFG Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 134.2% during the 4th quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 6,405 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,228,000 after acquiring an additional 3,670 shares during the last quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 11.3% during the fourth quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC now owns 2,188 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,444,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Garrison Bradford & Associates Inc. grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Garrison Bradford & Associates Inc. now owns 12,730 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,403,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 13,846 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $9,139,000 after buying an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. Finally, E&G Advisors LP purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at $206,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the subject of several research reports. Tigress Financial upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $615.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 15th. Loop Capital lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $710.00 to $755.00 in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Finally, Northcoast Research cut shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $620.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, December 20th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $673.36.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale news, VP Yoram Rubanenko sold 2,500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $680.33, for a total transaction of $1,700,825.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,910 shares in the company, valued at $4,020,750.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, VP Yoram Rubanenko sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $680.33, for a total transaction of $1,700,825.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,020,750.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Caton Frates sold 740 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $683.50, for a total transaction of $505,790.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,593,803.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,182 shares of company stock worth $9,809,558 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of COST stock opened at $718.59 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The stock has a market cap of $318.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.00, a PEG ratio of 4.93 and a beta of 0.77. The business’s fifty day moving average is $729.13 and its 200 day moving average is $653.12. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $476.75 and a twelve month high of $787.08.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by $0.09. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.73% and a return on equity of 28.80%. The firm had revenue of $58.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.30 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 2nd were given a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 1st. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.68%.

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, 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.