DnB Asset Management AS Buys 9,115 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

DnB Asset Management AS raised its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 11.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 89,582 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 9,115 shares during the period. DnB Asset Management AS’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $82,081,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. United Bank boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 7.5% during the third quarter. United Bank now owns 5,962 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,285,000 after acquiring an additional 416 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 182.1% in the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 409 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $363,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 102.4% in the third quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC now owns 773 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $685,000 after buying an additional 391 shares during the period. BNP Paribas boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas now owns 652 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $578,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 1.0 %

COST stock opened at $938.75 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $697.27 and a 12 month high of $1,078.24. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $988.34 and its 200 day moving average is $945.95. The company has a market capitalization of $416.51 billion, a PE ratio of 55.12, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.09 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total transaction of $1,034,011.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,495,211.65. This represents a 8.97 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total transaction of $3,351,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,242,687. The trade was a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,600 shares of company stock worth $5,215,915 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on COST shares. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,075.00 price objective (up from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,035.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $755.00 to $907.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,029.00.

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.