Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by Wedge Capital Management L L P NC

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC decreased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 822 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 22 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $543,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of COST. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 61,693.5% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,105,124 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,049,630,000 after acquiring an additional 3,100,099 shares in the last quarter. C WorldWide Group Holding A S acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter valued at about $390,630,000. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at about $297,915,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 18.3% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,088,673 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,180,016,000 after purchasing an additional 323,346 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 34.8% in the 3rd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,161,630 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $656,274,000 after purchasing an additional 300,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of COST stock opened at $729.18 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $730.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $666.04. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $476.75 and a twelve month high of $787.08. The company has a market capitalization of $323.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.81 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.09. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 2.73%. The company had revenue of $58.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.11 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.30 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be paid a $1.16 dividend. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.35%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Citigroup increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $630.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Tigress Financial increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $795.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $694.48.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total value of $1,072,245.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total value of $1,072,245.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,785,786.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 3,727 shares of company stock worth $2,682,948. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.