Agur Provident & Training Funds Management Ltd. Sells 2,585 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Agur Provident & Training Funds Management Ltd. decreased its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 30.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 5,815 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 2,585 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises approximately 2.0% of Agur Provident & Training Funds Management Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Agur Provident & Training Funds Management Ltd.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $5,328,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of COST. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 205,714 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $188,490,000 after buying an additional 657 shares during the last quarter. Broadway Wealth Solutions Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,493,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 56,071.0% in the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 17,413 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $15,955,000 after purchasing an additional 17,382 shares during the last quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 307 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $281,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $5,182,316,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Roth Mkm increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $755.00 to $907.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of 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. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,029.00.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 1.0 %

COST opened at $938.75 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $697.27 and a 1-year high of $1,078.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $416.51 billion, a PE ratio of 55.12, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $988.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $945.95.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.02 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is 27.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total transaction of $1,034,011.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,495,211.65. The trade was a 8.97 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total transaction of $830,304.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. This represents a 11.41 % decrease in their position. 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. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.