Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by HighPoint Advisor Group LLC

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 7.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,349 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 1,388 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for 0.9% of HighPoint Advisor Group LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $16,813,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

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Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on COST. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. DA Davidson lifted their target price 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. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and set a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted 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 note on Friday, December 13th. Nine research 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 stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,029.00.

Insider Activity

In other Costco Wholesale news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $38,242,687. This represents a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total value of $1,034,011.00. Following the completion of 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 5,600 shares of company stock valued at $5,215,915. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST traded up $8.62 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $954.40. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,039,397 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,947,522. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $697.27 and a 1 year high of $1,078.24. The company has a market cap of $423.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.04, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $988.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $947.08.

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). The firm had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date 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.