National Pension Service Grows Position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

National Pension Service increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 4.7% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 861,645 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 39,012 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises approximately 0.8% of National Pension Service’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. National Pension Service’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $814,927,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dagco Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 8.5% during the 1st quarter. Dagco Inc. now owns 511 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $483,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Thomas Story & Son LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Thomas Story & Son LLC now owns 19,626 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $18,561,000 after purchasing an additional 337 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 356,152 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $336,813,000 after purchasing an additional 14,623 shares during the period. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 6.1% in the 1st quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 178,153 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $168,092,000 after buying an additional 10,234 shares during the period. Finally, Telligent Fund LP boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Telligent Fund LP now owns 4,700 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,445,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,050.00.

Insider Activity

In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $980.00, for a total transaction of $536,060.00. Following the sale, the director owned 11,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,300,380. The trade was a 4.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,002.77, for a total transaction of $3,008,310.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 58,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,705,164.11. This represents a 4.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 9,547 shares of company stock worth $9,472,510. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.3%

NASDAQ COST opened at $991.25 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a market cap of $439.60 billion, a PE ratio of 56.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $975.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $985.81. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 52 week low of $856.16 and a 52 week high of $1,078.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 30.48%. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.78 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 1st will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 29.50%.

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.