Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd Trims Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd lessened its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 50.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,274 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 9,274 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale comprises approximately 1.2% of Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $8,497,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in COST. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 250.0% in the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Collier Financial purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COST has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $840.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $990.00 to $1,030.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,145.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,029.00.

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Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ COST traded up $9.12 on Thursday, hitting $938.87. 639,611 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,819,390. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The business's 50 day moving average price is $987.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $946.00. The company has a market capitalization of $416.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.27, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $697.27 and a 52-week high of $1,078.24.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $4.09 by ($0.07). Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. The company had revenue of $63.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.02 billion. Equities analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was 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. This represents a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total transaction of $830,304.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at $6,445,926.72. This represents a 11.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.