Trexquant Investment LP Lowers Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Trexquant Investment LP trimmed its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 42.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,278 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 12,540 shares during the quarter. Trexquant Investment LP’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $15,831,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of COST. United Bank grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 5,962 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,285,000 after buying an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 182.1% in the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 409 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $363,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 54.4% in the third quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 6,598 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,849,000 after purchasing an additional 2,324 shares during the last quarter. Harmony Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 27.5% during the third quarter. Harmony Asset Management LLC now owns 543 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $481,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new position in Costco Wholesale during the third quarter valued at $7,203,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, 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 trade represents a 8.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were 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 $6,445,926.72. This trade represents a 11.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 5,600 shares of company stock valued at $5,215,915. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

COST stock opened at $954.40 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $988.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $947.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $697.27 and a one year high of $1,078.24. The firm has a market cap of $423.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.04, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.09 by ($0.07). Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. The firm had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.02 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on COST shares. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Roth Mkm lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $755.00 to $907.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,029.00.

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.