Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Bought by DNB Asset Management AS

DNB Asset Management AS increased its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST – Get Rating) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 94,300 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,643 shares during the period. DNB Asset Management AS’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $43,048,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of COST. Cowa LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 1,050.0% during the 3rd quarter. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC now owns 69 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Newfound Research LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, Community Bank N.A. raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 21.0% during the 3rd quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 121 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. 66.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of COST stock traded down $0.21 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $487.05. The stock had a trading volume of 3,959,291 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,002,677. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $406.51 and a 12-month high of $612.27. The company has a market cap of $216.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.79. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $492.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $491.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 2nd. The retailer reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.10. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.66% and a net margin of 2.58%. The business had revenue of $55.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.61 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.92 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 14.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 3rd were given a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 2nd. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.45%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP James C. Klauer sold 2,500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $503.69, for a total transaction of $1,259,225.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 40,884 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,592,861.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CFO Richard A. Galanti sold 2,068 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $483.32, for a total transaction of $999,505.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 25,350 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,252,162. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP James C. Klauer sold 2,500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $503.69, for a total value of $1,259,225.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 40,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,592,861.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 6,068 shares of company stock worth $2,992,156 over the last 90 days. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on COST. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $470.00 to $478.00 in a report on Friday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $525.00 to $520.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 3rd. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $600.00 to $555.00 in a report on Friday, December 9th. Loop Capital boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $545.00 to $575.00 in a report on Thursday, February 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 10th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $550.16.

About Costco Wholesale

(Get Rating)

Costco Wholesale Corp. engages in the operation of membership warehouses through wholly owned subsidiaries. It operates through the following geographical segments: United States, Canada, and Other International Operations. The company was founded by James D. Sinegal and Jeffrey H. Brotman in 1983 and is headquartered in Issaquah, WA.