DnB Asset Management AS Boosts Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

DnB Asset Management AS raised its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 11.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 89,582 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,115 shares during the period. DnB Asset Management AS’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $82,081,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. United Bank increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 7.5% in the third quarter. United Bank now owns 5,962 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,285,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 182.1% in the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 409 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $363,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 102.4% during the third quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC now owns 773 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $685,000 after purchasing an additional 391 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 6.0% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas now owns 652 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $578,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on COST. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. DA Davidson increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,029.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In related news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at $38,242,687. The trade was a 8.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total value of $830,304.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. This represents a 11.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,600 shares of company stock worth $5,215,915 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $938.75 on Friday. 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 $416.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.12, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $697.27 and a 1 year high of $1,078.24. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $988.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $945.95.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). The business had revenue of $63.72 billion for 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%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.09%.

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.