KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Takes $143.53 Million Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 156,640 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $143,525,000. Costco Wholesale accounts for about 0.7% of KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 74,796.3% in 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 in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 100,422.3% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 796,137 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $729,476,000 after acquiring an additional 795,345 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,308,615 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,252,274,000 after buying an additional 324,973 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 11.2% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,299,535 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,132,519,000 after buying an additional 231,969 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total value of $3,351,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at $38,242,687. This represents a 8.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 1.5 %

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $909.26 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $403.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.39, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $987.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $944.60. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $697.27 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.24.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its 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 return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. The firm had revenue of $63.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.02 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on COST shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Loop Capital decreased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $840.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,029.00.

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.