Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt

Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt decreased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 26.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 149,200 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 52,700 shares during the quarter. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $141,072,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 19,825 shares of the retailer's stock worth $18,165,000 after acquiring an additional 2,172 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,029,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 45.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 117,254 shares of the retailer's stock worth $107,436,000 after buying an additional 36,384 shares during the period. Highview Capital Management LLC DE boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 4,813 shares of the retailer's stock worth $4,410,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Hudson Value Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 8,501 shares of the retailer's stock worth $7,789,000 after buying an additional 455 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COST has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Cfra Research upgraded Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,060.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 target price on Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,037.48.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,002.77, for a total value of $3,008,310.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 58,543 shares in the company, valued at $58,705,164.11. The trade was a 4.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,014.15, for a total value of $2,028,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 8,210 shares in the company, valued at $8,326,171.50. This trade represents a 19.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 9,547 shares of company stock worth $9,472,510 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST traded down $0.42 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $941.19. 2,397,361 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,068,302. The business's 50-day moving average price is $998.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $983.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.52. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a twelve month low of $793.00 and a twelve month high of $1,078.24. The company has a market capitalization of $417.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.39, a PEG ratio of 5.89 and a beta of 0.97.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.48% and a net margin of 2.92%. The business had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $62.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.78 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.50%.

Costco Wholesale Company 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.