Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Acquires 59,164 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 8.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 762,208 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 59,164 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for about 0.7% of Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $698,647,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 74,796.3% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,521,893 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,394,465,000 after acquiring an additional 1,519,861 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 100,422.3% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 796,137 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $729,476,000 after buying an additional 795,345 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,201,610 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $38,668,069,000 after acquiring an additional 455,043 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 55.7% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,068,772 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $979,284,000 after acquiring an additional 382,367 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 11.2% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,299,535 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,132,519,000 after acquiring an additional 231,969 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,029.00.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $929.75 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $987.96 and its 200 day moving average is $946.00. The company has a market cap of $412.51 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 current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $697.27 and a 1 year high of $1,078.24.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced 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). The business had revenue of $63.72 billion for 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale 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 directly 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 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 stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,445,926.72. This represents a 11.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Costco Wholesale

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.