American Money Management LLC Reduces Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

American Money Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,067 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 88 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale makes up 2.2% of American Money Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. American Money Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $11,056,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,201,610 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $38,668,069,000 after buying an additional 455,043 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.7% in 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 acquiring an additional 162,191 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth $5,182,316,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,077,905 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,820,193,000 after acquiring an additional 43,414 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,899,904 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,657,095,000 after purchasing an additional 91,649 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total transaction of $3,351,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,242,687. The trade was a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total value of $830,304.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. This represents a 11.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,600 shares of company stock worth $5,215,915 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $929.66 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $412.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.59, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $697.27 and a 12-month high of $1,078.24. The business’s 50 day moving average is $988.07 and its 200-day moving average is $946.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). The company had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. Equities research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 27.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on COST shares. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $840.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,035.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Loop Capital cut their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,029.00.

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.