Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. decreased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST – Free Report) by 7.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,084 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 510 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $3,023,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 118,320.2% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,396,524 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,376,513,000 after acquiring an additional 7,390,278 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at $2,328,844,000. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 18.0% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,634,627 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,941,708,000 after acquiring an additional 1,315,174 shares in the last quarter. CI Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at $245,698,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 10.6% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,595,523 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,780,247,000 after acquiring an additional 535,776 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.88% of the company’s stock.
Insider Buying and Selling
In related news, CFO Richard A. Galanti sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $522.02, for a total value of $783,030.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 23,850 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,450,177. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CFO Richard A. Galanti sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.02, for a total value of $783,030.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 23,850 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,450,177. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,565 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $533.00, for a total value of $834,145.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 13,329 shares in the company, valued at $7,104,357. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several analysts have recently weighed in on COST shares. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $545.00 to $570.00 in a research note on Friday, June 2nd. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $575.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday, July 31st. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $560.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $567.00 to $597.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $562.67.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on COST
Costco Wholesale Price Performance
Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $562.96 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $540.25 and its 200 day moving average is $511.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 1.08. The company has a market capitalization of $249.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.79. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $447.90 and a fifty-two week high of $571.16.
Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 25th. The retailer reported $3.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.32 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $53.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $54.58 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.55% and a return on equity of 28.18%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.17 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 14.39 earnings per share for the current year.
Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 8th. Investors of record on Friday, August 25th will be issued a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 24th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.22%.
About Costco Wholesale
(Free Report)
Costco Wholesale Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the operation of membership warehouses in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Japan, Korea, Australia, Spain, France, Iceland, China, and Taiwan. It offers branded and private-label products in a range of merchandise categories.
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