Tredje AP fonden Sells 41,297 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

Key Points

• Tredje AP fonden reduced its stake in Costco Wholesale by 47.4%, ending the first quarter with 45,834 shares valued at approximately $43.3 million.
• While Tredje AP fonden decreased its position, several other hedge funds, including Brighton Jones LLC and Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG, have increased their holdings in Costco, showcasing varying investor sentiment.
• Analysts have generally upgraded Costco's stock, with Morgan Stanley increasing the target price from $1,150 to $1,225 and the majority rating it as a Moderate Buy.

Tredje AP fonden trimmed its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 47.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 45,834 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 41,297 shares during the period. Tredje AP fonden's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $43,349,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 2.7% in 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 acquiring an additional 252,118 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,457,824 shares of the retailer's stock worth $8,665,921,000 after purchasing an additional 149,209 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 106,402.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,160,190 shares of the retailer's stock worth $7,717,744,000 after buying an additional 8,152,528 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,257,809 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $4,817,573,000 after buying an additional 587,303 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,990,957 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $3,656,828,000 after purchasing an additional 18,897 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $980.00, for a total transaction of $536,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 11,531 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,300,380. This trade represents a 4.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 9,547 shares of company stock valued at $9,472,510. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of COST traded down $7.06 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $927.51. The stock had a trading volume of 1,682,635 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,941,458. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The firm has a market cap of $411.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $986.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $983.48. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a twelve month low of $793.00 and a twelve month high of $1,078.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.48% and a net margin of 2.92%. Costco Wholesale's revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.78 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 1st will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is 29.50%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on COST shares. Wall Street Zen raised Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and set a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, April 11th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $975.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,037.48.

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.