Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Stake Lowered by Tredje AP fonden

Tredje AP fonden cut its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 3.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 87,131 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 3,500 shares during the quarter. Tredje AP fonden’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $79,836,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in COST. Swedbank AB increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.5% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 443,747 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $393,391,000 after buying an additional 6,495 shares in the last quarter. United Bank increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.5% in the third quarter. United Bank now owns 5,962 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,285,000 after buying an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.7% in the third quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd now owns 3,762 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,341,000 after buying an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 5.1% in the third quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. now owns 7,467 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,623,000 after buying an additional 360 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the third quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 168,641 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $149,504,000 after buying an additional 1,745 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on COST. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $990.00 to $1,030.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,030.43.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $927.08 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $411.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.44, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.81. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $990.44 and its 200-day moving average is $944.52. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $697.27 and a 52-week high of $1,078.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98.

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

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.09%.

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.