Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by Sarasin & Partners LLP

Sarasin & Partners LLP cut its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 0.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 238,030 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 1,333 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale accounts for 2.4% of Sarasin & Partners LLP's portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Sarasin & Partners LLP owned 0.05% of Costco Wholesale worth $225,124,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Stanich Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth $214,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,739,175 shares of the retailer's stock worth $8,901,249,000 after acquiring an additional 252,118 shares during the last quarter. RW Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 21.3% in the 4th quarter. RW Investment Management LLC now owns 5,624 shares of the retailer's stock worth $5,153,000 after purchasing an additional 989 shares in the last quarter. AMJ Financial Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. AMJ Financial Wealth Management now owns 10,536 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $9,654,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marks Group Wealth Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 31.2% in the fourth quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 1,002 shares of the retailer's stock worth $918,000 after buying an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on COST. Loop Capital lowered their target price 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. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Mizuho began coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, April 11th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $975.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,035.32.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total transaction of $830,304.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. This represents a 11.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total value of $1,034,011.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,165 shares in the company, valued at $10,495,211.65. This represents a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 11,000 shares of company stock valued at $10,825,205. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.3%

NASDAQ:COST traded up $3.34 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $1,000.12. The company's stock had a trading volume of 531,352 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,057,202. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $793.00 and a 1 year high of $1,078.24. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $996.91 and a 200-day moving average of $980.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $443.53 billion, a PE ratio of 58.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. The company's revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.78 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.