Parnassus Investments LLC Trims Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Parnassus Investments LLC reduced its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 6.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 710,831 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 51,368 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale makes up 1.4% of Parnassus Investments LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Parnassus Investments LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $651,313,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 250.0% in the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Collier Financial acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on COST shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,000.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $840.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,075.00 target price (up from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,030.43.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the 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 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 3.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $890.62 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $697.27 and a 12-month high of $1,078.24. The stock has a market cap of $395.35 billion, a PE ratio of 52.30, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The company has a 50-day moving average of $990.05 and a 200 day moving average of $944.14.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.02 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.09%.

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.