AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC Invests $632,000 in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 690 shares of the retailer's stock, valued at approximately $632,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. NEOS Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 17.3% in the fourth quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 52,560 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $48,159,000 after purchasing an additional 7,742 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 32.1% during the fourth quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 24,337 shares of the retailer's stock worth $22,299,000 after purchasing an additional 5,913 shares during the last quarter. Sava Infond d.o.o. purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at $3,505,000. WINTON GROUP Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1,900.4% in the 4th quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 4,721 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $4,326,000 after buying an additional 4,485 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 762,208 shares of the retailer's stock worth $698,647,000 after buying an additional 59,164 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

COST has been the topic of several recent research reports. Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $1,075.00 price objective (up previously from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,035.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,029.00.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ:COST opened at $945.78 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $419.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $697.27 and a 1-year high of $1,078.24. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $988.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $947.08.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last posted 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 business had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio is 27.09%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was 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 owns 11,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,495,211.65. This trade represents a 8.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total transaction of $3,351,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares of the company's stock, 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. Insiders sold a total of 5,600 shares of company stock valued at $5,215,915 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.