Allianz SE Buys Shares of 22,357 Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Allianz SE acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 22,357 shares of the retailer's stock, valued at approximately $20,616,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,201,610 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $38,668,069,000 after purchasing an additional 455,043 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,487,057 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $8,380,648,000 after buying an additional 162,191 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth about $5,182,316,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,077,905 shares of the retailer's stock worth $2,820,193,000 after acquiring an additional 43,414 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,899,904 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $2,657,095,000 after acquiring an additional 91,649 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total value of $3,351,600.00. Following the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,495,211.65. This represents a 8.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,600 shares of company stock worth $5,215,915 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:COST traded up $17.12 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $946.78. The company had a trading volume of 1,894,380 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,945,707. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $697.27 and a twelve month high of $1,078.24. The stock has a market cap of $420.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.59, 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. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $988.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $946.86.

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

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on COST shares. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Truist Financial raised their price target 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. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Raymond James upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $990.00 to $1,030.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,029.00.

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.