Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Purchased by Infusive Asset Management Inc.

Infusive Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 282.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,713 shares of the retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 7,909 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale makes up about 4.4% of Infusive Asset Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Infusive Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $9,816,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Norges Bank bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $5,182,316,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 74,796.3% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,521,893 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,394,465,000 after acquiring an additional 1,519,861 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 100,422.3% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 796,137 shares of the retailer's stock worth $729,476,000 after purchasing an additional 795,345 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,201,610 shares of the retailer's stock worth $38,668,069,000 after buying an additional 455,043 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 55.7% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,068,772 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $979,284,000 after acquiring an additional 382,367 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST opened at $994.50 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $702.00 and a one year high of $1,078.24. The business has a fifty day moving average of $977.26 and a 200 day moving average of $951.51. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $441.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.40, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.95.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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). The firm had revenue of $63.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 41,077 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $38,242,687. This represents a 8.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total value of $830,304.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,987 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,445,926.72. This trade represents a 11.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,600 shares of company stock worth $5,215,915 in the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the topic of a number of research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,035.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price 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. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, April 11th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $975.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,024.03.

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.

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