Ion Asset Management Ltd. Sells 107 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Ion Asset Management Ltd. cut its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 17.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 490 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 107 shares during the period. Ion Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $449,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at about $5,182,316,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 74,796.3% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,521,893 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,394,465,000 after purchasing an additional 1,519,861 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 100,422.3% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 796,137 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $729,476,000 after purchasing an additional 795,345 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,257,809 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,817,573,000 after purchasing an additional 587,303 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,201,610 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $38,668,069,000 after purchasing an additional 455,043 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total transaction of $830,304.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at $6,445,926.72. This represents a 11.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total transaction of $3,351,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at $38,242,687. This trade represents a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 9,600 shares of company stock worth $9,140,195. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Barclays raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Loop Capital dropped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,045.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Cfra Research upgraded Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,024.03.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $978.54 on Tuesday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $715.32 and a 52 week high of $1,078.24. The company has a market capitalization of $434.16 billion, a PE ratio of 57.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.95. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $964.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $956.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 2nd. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 30.36%.

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.