Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super Takes $82.96 Million Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 90,544 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $82,963,000. Costco Wholesale comprises about 1.3% of Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 250.0% during the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Collier Financial purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Barrett & Company Inc. boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 59.3% during the fourth quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. now owns 43 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 16 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ COST opened at $963.41 on Monday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $702.00 and a 52 week high of $1,078.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $427.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.57, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $982.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $949.81.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $63.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 27.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COST has been the subject of several research reports. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Cfra Research raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday. Ten 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.com, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,024.03.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total transaction of $1,034,011.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,165 shares in the company, valued at $10,495,211.65. The trade was a 8.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 41,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,242,687. The trade was a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,600 shares of company stock worth $5,215,915 over the last three months. Company 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.