Swiss National Bank Decreases Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Swiss National Bank lowered its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 4.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,251,700 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 64,200 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale makes up approximately 0.8% of Swiss National Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Swiss National Bank owned 0.28% of Costco Wholesale worth $1,146,895,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cromwell Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,144 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,048,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the period. 44 Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,488 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,196,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. SRN Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. SRN Advisors LLC now owns 3,081 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,823,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the period. Miramar Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Miramar Capital LLC now owns 525 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $481,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sculati Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sculati Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,649 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,235,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.4 %

COST stock opened at $927.08 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The company has a market cap of $411.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.81. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $697.27 and a 12 month high of $1,078.24. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $990.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $944.52.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.09 by ($0.07). Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. The company had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.02 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. 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, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Roth Mkm raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $755.00 to $907.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Citigroup increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,030.43.

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.