Sterling Capital Management LLC Grows Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,236 shares of the retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 478 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $22,207,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in COST. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,739,175 shares of the retailer's stock worth $8,901,249,000 after acquiring an additional 252,118 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,457,824 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $8,665,921,000 after purchasing an additional 149,209 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,182,316,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,715,685 shares of the retailer's stock worth $3,404,571,000 after purchasing an additional 43,266 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total value of $830,304.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. This trade represents a 11.41 % 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 the company's 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares of the company's stock, valued at $38,242,687. The trade was a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 5,600 shares of company stock worth $5,215,915. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,045.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,035.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Mizuho initiated coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday. They set a "neutral" rating and a $975.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,024.03.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of COST stock traded down $2.61 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $976.71. The company's stock had a trading volume of 872,990 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,002,284. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $981.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $950.46. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $702.00 and a one year high of $1,078.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $433.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.35, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $4.09 by ($0.07). Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. The firm had revenue of $63.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $63.02 billion. Equities research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio is 27.09%.

Costco Wholesale 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.