Russell Investments Group Ltd. Grows Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 9.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 341,529 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 29,719 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale accounts for 0.4% of Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.08% of Costco Wholesale worth $313,028,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth $8,430,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 15.0% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,662 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,020,000 after buying an additional 1,001 shares during the last quarter. Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at about $984,000. Stanich Group LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth about $214,000. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 15.4% in the fourth quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,913 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $10,916,000 after acquiring an additional 1,590 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 8.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total value of $1,034,011.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,495,211.65. The trade was a 8.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,600 shares of company stock worth $5,215,915 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 5.2 %

Shares of COST opened at $916.48 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $406.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.82, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $702.00 and a 1 year high of $1,078.24. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $988.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $947.67. 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.09 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $63.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. On average, analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on COST. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Oppenheimer restated 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. Finally, Loop Capital lowered their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,029.00.

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.