Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Bought by DnB Asset Management AS

DnB Asset Management AS increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 11.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 89,582 shares of the retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 9,115 shares during the period. DnB Asset Management AS's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $82,081,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of COST. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at $5,182,316,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in 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 valued at $1,394,465,000 after buying an additional 1,519,861 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 100,422.3% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 796,137 shares of the retailer's stock worth $729,476,000 after buying an additional 795,345 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,201,610 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $38,668,069,000 after acquiring an additional 455,043 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised 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 during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:COST traded up $11.06 on Monday, reaching $940.72. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,024,386 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,937,823. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $697.27 and a 52-week high of $1,078.24. The stock's 50-day moving average is $988.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $946.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $417.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.28, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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). The company 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, sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. The trade was a 11.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,600 shares of company stock valued at $5,215,915 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on COST. DA Davidson upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Raymond James lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $990.00 to $1,030.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,029.00.

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.