Parnassus Investments LLC Has $479.85 Million Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Key Points

• Parnassus Investments LLC has decreased its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation by 28.6%, now holding 507,363 shares valued at approximately $479.85 million.
• Costco Wholesale recently declared a $1.30 quarterly dividend, resulting in an annualized dividend of $5.20 and a yield of 0.6%.
• Despite some ratings downgrades, Wall Street analysts maintain a consensus of "Moderate Buy" for Costco, with a price target of $1,050.00.

Parnassus Investments LLC decreased its position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 28.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 507,363 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 203,468 shares during the quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC owned 0.11% of Costco Wholesale worth $479,854,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Aspect Partners LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 24.4% during the 1st quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 56 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth $58,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $59,000. Finally, Bank & Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 20.4% in the first quarter. Bank & Trust Co now owns 65 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on COST shares. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,050.00.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $944.96 on Friday. 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 stock has a market cap of $419.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.60, a P/E/G ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a 50 day moving average of $967.16 and a 200-day moving average of $982.55. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a one year low of $867.16 and a one year 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 30.48%. The firm had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $62.93 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.78 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st were paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is 29.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total transaction of $3,899,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 5,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,629,419.04. The trade was a 40.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,002.77, for a total value of $3,008,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 58,543 shares of the company's stock, valued at $58,705,164.11. This represents a 4.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 10,147 shares of company stock worth $10,067,740 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

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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