Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by Blueshift Asset Management LLC

Blueshift Asset Management LLC reduced its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 58.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 324 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 449 shares during the quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $297,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Collier Financial purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the firm’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 owns 41,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,242,687. This trade represents a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $909.26 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $987.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $944.60. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $697.27 and a 52-week high of $1,078.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $403.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.39, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $63.72 billion for 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%. On average, analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 27.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the topic of a number of research reports. Roth Mkm lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $755.00 to $907.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Citigroup upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. UBS Group raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $840.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.