Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Acquired by Capital International Sarl

Capital International Sarl lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 9.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 60,346 shares of the retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 5,259 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale makes up approximately 1.3% of Capital International Sarl's holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Capital International Sarl's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $55,293,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $8,430,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 15.0% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at $984,000. Stanich Group LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth $214,000. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 15.4% in the 4th quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,913 shares of the retailer's stock worth $10,916,000 after purchasing an additional 1,590 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on COST. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. 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 research report on Thursday, February 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of 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. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,024.03.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 2.8 %

NASDAQ COST traded up $26.75 during trading on Friday, reaching $994.50. 2,705,128 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,016,146. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $975.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $952.83. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $706.17 and a 12-month high of $1,078.24. The firm has a market cap of $441.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.95. 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 (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $63.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is presently 27.09%.

Insider Activity

In other Costco Wholesale news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the firm's 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at $38,242,687. This trade represents 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 at the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $1,034,011.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,165 shares in the company, valued at $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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 5,600 shares of company stock worth $5,215,915. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

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.