International Assets Investment Management LLC Sells 7,362,123 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

International Assets Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 99.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 8,793 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 7,362,123 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $8,000,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,487,057 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,380,648,000 after purchasing an additional 162,191 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,308,615 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,252,274,000 after buying an additional 324,973 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.5% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,650,562 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,102,941,000 after acquiring an additional 88,550 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.8% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,399,127 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,013,394,000 after acquiring an additional 125,444 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 2.3% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,075,065 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,726,107,000 after acquiring an additional 70,561 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on COST. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $876.00 to $995.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $860.00 to $890.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,075.00 price target (up previously from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Roth Mkm boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $755.00 to $907.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,013.59.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.5 %

COST stock traded down $4.85 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $916.52. The stock had a trading volume of 305,332 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,481,528. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $944.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $897.58. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $658.26 and a 1-year high of $1,008.25. The firm has a market cap of $406.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.02 and a beta of 0.84.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total transaction of $1,266,866.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 27,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,514,232. The trade was a 4.91 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $891.15, for a total transaction of $3,921,060.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,202 shares in the company, valued at $9,091,512.30. This trade represents a 30.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 7,816 shares of company stock worth $6,981,347. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Costco Wholesale 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.