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

Norden Group LLC lowered its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 5.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,787 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 102 shares during the quarter. Norden Group LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,179,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,134,947 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,901,040,000 after acquiring an additional 210,586 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 61,693.5% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,105,124 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,049,630,000 after acquiring an additional 3,100,099 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.9% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,689,514 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,519,468,000 after acquiring an additional 24,274 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,580,649 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,457,964,000 after purchasing an additional 28,259 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 18.3% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,088,673 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,180,016,000 after purchasing an additional 323,346 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the topic of several research reports. Loop Capital dropped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $680.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $800.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Gordon Haskett downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $694.48.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ COST traded down $4.04 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $722.29. 566,088 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,031,046. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $730.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $668.62. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $476.75 and a twelve month high of $787.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $320.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.19, a PEG ratio of 4.86 and a beta of 0.77.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $58.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.11 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.73% and a return on equity of 28.80%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.30 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 30.35%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total value of $1,043,258.16. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,395 shares in the company, valued at $8,967,534.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total transaction of $1,043,258.16. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,395 shares in the company, valued at $8,967,534.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 3,727 shares of company stock worth $2,682,948. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

About Costco Wholesale

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.