Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Has $424.39 Million Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado reduced its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 16.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 463,176 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 93,357 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale makes up about 1.7% of Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado's holdings, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado owned about 0.10% of Costco Wholesale worth $424,394,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake 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 worth $38,668,069,000 after purchasing an additional 455,043 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,739,175 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $8,901,249,000 after purchasing an additional 252,118 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.6% in 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 period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $5,182,316,000. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,990,957 shares of the retailer's stock worth $3,656,828,000 after acquiring an additional 18,897 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST traded up $13.16 on Tuesday, reaching $991.70. The company had a trading volume of 1,522,173 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,032,836. 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $964.78 and a 200-day moving average of $956.90. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $715.32 and a one year high of $1,078.24. The company has a market capitalization of $440.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.23, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.95.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.02 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio is presently 30.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on COST. DA Davidson boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Mizuho assumed coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, April 11th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $975.00 price target on the stock. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,024.03.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total transaction of $830,304.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,445,926.72. This represents a 11.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 9,600 shares of company stock worth $9,140,195. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

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.