Vident Advisory LLC Decreases Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Vident Advisory LLC reduced its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 21,312 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 699 shares during the period. Vident Advisory LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $19,530,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vivaldi Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 24.5% in the 4th quarter. Vivaldi Capital Management LP now owns 1,174 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,133,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC now owns 980 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $898,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 17.1% in the 4th quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 13,008 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $11,919,000 after purchasing an additional 1,898 shares in the last quarter. St. Clair Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,810,000. Finally, Triglav Skladi D.O.O. acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at about $7,055,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total transaction of $3,924,280.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,994 shares in the company, valued at $43,161,193.58. This trade represents a 8.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total value of $3,351,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,242,687. This trade represents a 8.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 9,600 shares of company stock worth $9,140,195. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the topic of several research reports. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,024.03.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $1,025.83 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $455.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.24, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $788.20 and a 1-year high of $1,078.24. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $961.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $968.39.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.09 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.36%.

About Costco Wholesale

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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