Shell Asset Management Co. Has $30.21 Million Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Shell Asset Management Co. lowered its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 32,975 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 540 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises approximately 1.3% of Shell Asset Management Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Shell Asset Management Co.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $30,214,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,201,610 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $38,668,069,000 after buying an additional 455,043 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 252,118 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings 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 valued at $8,665,921,000 after purchasing an additional 149,209 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $5,182,316,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,257,809 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,817,573,000 after buying an additional 587,303 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Mizuho began coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, April 11th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $975.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,024.03.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $1,010.47 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $959.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $966.17. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $787.83 and a 1 year high of $1,078.24. 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 company has a market capitalization of $448.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.33, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released 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 net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. The company had revenue of $63.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.02 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total value of $3,924,280.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,161,193.58. This trade represents a 8.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,445,926.72. This trade represents a 11.41% 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 valued at $9,140,195 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.