Covea Finance Has $40.66 Million Holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

Covea Finance lessened its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 14.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 42,992 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 7,188 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale accounts for about 1.8% of Covea Finance's investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Covea Finance's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $40,661,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in COST. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 250.0% during the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 22.2% during the fourth quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 55 shares of the retailer's stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth approximately $58,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,014.15, for a total value of $2,028,300.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,210 shares in the company, valued at $8,326,171.50. The trade was a 19.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $980.00, for a total value of $536,060.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,531 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,300,380. This trade represents a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,547 shares of company stock valued at $11,361,265 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on COST shares. Loop Capital lowered their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen raised Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Barclays lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,034.79.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of COST traded up $5.39 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $980.29. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,250,821 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,063,545. The company has a market cap of $434.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.79 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a fifty day moving average of $1,002.94 and a 200 day moving average of $981.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1 year low of $793.00 and a 1 year high of $1,078.24.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.48% and a net margin of 2.92%. The firm had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.78 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is 29.50%.

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.