Schroder Investment Management Group Boosts Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 5.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 588,028 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 32,346 shares during the quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $542,285,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.1% during 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in 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 period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $5,182,316,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,077,905 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,820,193,000 after purchasing an additional 43,414 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of 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. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

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

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $929.66 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $697.27 and a one year high of $1,078.24. The company has a market capitalization of $412.47 billion, a PE ratio of 54.59, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $988.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $946.54.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.09 by ($0.07). Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. The firm had revenue of $63.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.02 billion. Research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on COST. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,035.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,075.00 target price (up previously from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.