Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by Axiom Investors LLC DE

Axiom Investors LLC DE reduced its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 15.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 345,816 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 63,977 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for approximately 2.3% of Axiom Investors LLC DE's investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Axiom Investors LLC DE owned approximately 0.08% of Costco Wholesale worth $316,861,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth about $8,430,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,662 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $7,020,000 after acquiring an additional 1,001 shares during the period. Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth approximately $984,000. Stanich Group LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $214,000. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 15.4% during the fourth quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,913 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $10,916,000 after buying an additional 1,590 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 8.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total transaction of $3,351,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 5,600 shares of company stock valued at $5,215,915. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

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Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ COST traded up $12.74 on Thursday, hitting $977.82. 1,619,538 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,944,193. 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 fifty-two week low of $697.27 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.24. The firm has a market cap of $433.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.42, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $988.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $947.48.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $63.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $63.02 billion. On average, research 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 paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,145.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. DA Davidson upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target 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. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.