Aristotle Atlantic Partners LLC Reduces Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Aristotle Atlantic Partners LLC decreased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 81,549 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 3,629 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for approximately 2.3% of Aristotle Atlantic Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Aristotle Atlantic Partners LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $74,721,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of COST. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,201,610 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $38,668,069,000 after purchasing an additional 455,043 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,739,175 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,901,249,000 after buying an additional 252,118 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,457,824 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,665,921,000 after buying an additional 149,209 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth about $5,182,316,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,257,809 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,817,573,000 after acquiring an additional 587,303 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on COST. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on 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. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Mizuho began coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, April 11th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $975.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,024.03.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $1,008.30 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $961.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $958.94. 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 $733.35 and a 1 year high of $1,078.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $447.37 billion, a PE ratio of 59.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.95.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 30.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total transaction 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 approximately $6,445,926.72. The trade was a 11.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,242,687. This trade represents a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 9,600 shares of company stock worth $9,140,195 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is 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.