Sepio Capital LP Sells 101 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Sepio Capital LP trimmed its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 5,239 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 101 shares during the quarter. Sepio Capital LP’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $4,800,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Titleist Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 52.9% during the fourth quarter. Titleist Asset Management LLC now owns 610 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $559,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. Darden Wealth Group Inc increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Darden Wealth Group Inc now owns 665 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $609,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 4,770 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,371,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth $58,641,000. Finally, Nutshell Asset Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth $2,657,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 41,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,242,687. This trade represents a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total value of $1,034,011.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,495,211.65. The trade was a 8.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 5,600 shares of company stock worth $5,215,915. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ:COST opened at $916.48 on Friday. 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 stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $988.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $948.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $406.63 billion, a PE ratio of 53.82, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.95. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $702.00 and a 52-week high of $1,078.24.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.02 billion. Analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $990.00 to $1,030.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,029.00.

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.