Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc.

Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. decreased its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 18.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,884 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,331 shares during the period. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $3,884,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1,785.8% in the 4th quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. now owns 41,186 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $27,186,000 after acquiring an additional 39,002 shares during the last quarter. Main Street Research LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 544.2% during the 4th quarter. Main Street Research LLC now owns 50,706 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $34,231,000 after buying an additional 42,835 shares during the last quarter. Riverstone Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth approximately $207,000. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 67.3% during the 4th quarter. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,912 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,291,000 after buying an additional 769 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DGS Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 416 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $275,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. StockNews.com cut shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $800.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Roth Mkm increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $601.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $691.28.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, VP Yoram Rubanenko sold 2,500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $680.33, for a total value of $1,700,825.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 5,910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,020,750.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total value of $1,043,258.16. Following the sale, the director now owns 12,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,967,534.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Yoram Rubanenko sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $680.33, for a total transaction of $1,700,825.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,910 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,020,750.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 13,442 shares of company stock worth $9,303,768. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ COST traded down $0.96 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $717.32. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 892,060 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,103,754. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.93. The firm has a market cap of $318.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.16, a P/E/G ratio of 4.87 and a beta of 0.77. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $476.75 and a twelve month high of $787.08. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $730.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $657.77.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $58.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.11 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.73% and a return on equity of 28.80%. Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.30 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 26.68%.

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.