Strategic Global Advisors LLC Buys New Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Strategic Global Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 7,614 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $6,976,000. Costco Wholesale makes up approximately 1.3% of Strategic Global Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of COST. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.1% during the 4th 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,739,175 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,901,249,000 after buying an additional 252,118 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,457,824 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,665,921,000 after buying an additional 149,209 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth about $5,182,316,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,257,809 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,817,573,000 after acquiring an additional 587,303 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Mizuho began coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, April 11th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $975.00 target price for the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target 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. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,024.03.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was 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 owns 11,165 shares of the company’s stock, 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 at this hyperlink. Also, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total value of $3,924,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,161,193.58. The trade was a 8.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 9,600 shares of company stock valued at $9,140,195 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of COST stock opened at $1,025.83 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $455.14 billion, a PE ratio of 60.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $788.20 and a 52-week high of $1,078.24. The business’s fifty day moving average is $961.47 and its 200 day moving average is $967.73. 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 (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.02 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 30.36%.

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.