Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Acquired by Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations

Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 137.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,643 shares of the retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 6,168 shares during the quarter. Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations' holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $10,066,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake 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 worth $7,717,744,000 after purchasing an additional 8,152,528 shares during the last quarter. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth about $95,452,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,257,809 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $4,817,573,000 after acquiring an additional 587,303 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,644,711 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $40,332,515,000 after acquiring an additional 443,101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 79.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 775,541 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $710,624,000 after acquiring an additional 343,390 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $980.00, for a total value of $536,060.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 11,531 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,300,380. This represents a 4.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total value of $3,899,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 5,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,629,419.04. This trade represents a 40.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 9,547 shares of company stock worth $9,472,510. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on COST shares. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Mizuho began coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, April 11th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $975.00 price objective for the company. Loop Capital cut their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Ten equities 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, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,040.81.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ COST opened at $977.45 on Friday. The stock's fifty day moving average is $979.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $984.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $433.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.02 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 1.02. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $820.45 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.23.

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

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st will be paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is 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.

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