Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Stock Holdings Boosted by Stevens Capital Management LP

Stevens Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 120.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,163 shares of the retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 2,274 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale accounts for about 1.5% of Stevens Capital Management LP's holdings, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Stevens Capital Management LP's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $3,814,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 74,796.3% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,521,893 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,394,465,000 after purchasing an additional 1,519,861 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 100,422.3% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 796,137 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $729,476,000 after buying an additional 795,345 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in 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 worth $979,284,000 after buying an additional 382,367 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,308,615 shares of the retailer's stock worth $8,252,274,000 after buying an additional 324,973 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,299,535 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $2,132,519,000 after acquiring an additional 231,969 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of Costco Wholesale 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total value of $830,304.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. This represents a 11.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on COST. Loop Capital decreased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,135.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped 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 report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $840.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $1,075.00 price target (up from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,029.00.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock traded down $0.51 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $929.75. The company had a trading volume of 1,644,284 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,823,661. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $987.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $946.11. The stock has a market cap of $412.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.59, 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. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $697.27 and a 12-month high of $1,078.24.

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

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is presently 27.09%.

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.