Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc. decreased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 42.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,150 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 1,569 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale accounts for about 2.0% of Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,034,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,201,610 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $38,668,069,000 after buying an additional 455,043 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,739,175 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $8,901,249,000 after buying an additional 252,118 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,457,824 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $8,665,921,000 after buying an additional 149,209 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 106,402.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,160,190 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $7,717,744,000 after purchasing an additional 8,152,528 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at $5,182,316,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale
In related news, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total value of $3,924,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,994 shares in the company, valued at $43,161,193.58. The trade was a 8.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total value of $830,304.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,987 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,445,926.72. The trade was a 11.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,600 shares of company stock worth $9,140,195 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
COST has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Cfra Research raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,035.32.
Read Our Latest Report on COST
Costco Wholesale Trading Up 4.0%
Shares of NASDAQ:COST traded up $40.04 on Friday, hitting $1,048.78. 5,400,884 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,051,940. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $793.00 and a 12 month high of $1,078.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $465.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $983.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $975.63. 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 - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.78 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd were issued a $1.30 dividend. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio is presently 30.36%.
About Costco Wholesale
(
Free Report)
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.
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