Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by GS Investments Inc.

GS Investments Inc. trimmed its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,132 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 219 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale makes up 2.1% of GS Investments Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. GS Investments Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $4,702,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in COST. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,808,255 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,489,574,000 after buying an additional 32,074 shares during the last quarter. Nwam LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 3rd quarter valued at about $20,056,000. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth $8,430,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 15.0% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,662 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,020,000 after purchasing an additional 1,001 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth approximately $984,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 41,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,242,687. The trade was a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,030.43.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.7 %

COST opened at $904.05 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $401.31 billion, a PE ratio of 53.09, 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 current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $697.27 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.24. The company’s 50-day moving average is $988.75 and its 200 day moving average is $944.83.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its earnings results 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). Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. The business had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.02 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 27.09%.

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.