AQR Capital Management LLC Sells 42,733 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

AQR Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 12.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 302,217 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 42,733 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $276,913,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 250.0% in the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Collier Financial purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Barrett & Company Inc. raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 59.3% in the fourth quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. now owns 43 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total value of $3,924,280.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,161,193.58. The trade was a 8.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total transaction of $830,304.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. This trade represents a 11.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 9,600 shares of company stock worth $9,140,195 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ COST opened at $978.54 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $964.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $956.90. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $715.32 and a 12 month high of $1,078.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $434.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.46, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.95.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its 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 net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. The company had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.02 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on COST shares. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. Loop Capital cut their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,045.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Cfra Research raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,024.03.

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.