Envestnet Asset Management Inc. Grows Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 3.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 581,395 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,407 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $532,715,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Norges Bank bought a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,182,316,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 74,796.3% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,521,893 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,394,465,000 after buying an additional 1,519,861 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 100,422.3% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 796,137 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $729,476,000 after purchasing an additional 795,345 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,201,610 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $38,668,069,000 after purchasing an additional 455,043 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 55.7% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,068,772 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $979,284,000 after buying an additional 382,367 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at $6,445,926.72. The trade was a 11.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total value of $3,351,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at $38,242,687. This trade represents a 8.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,600 shares of company stock valued at $5,215,915. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 5.2 %

NASDAQ COST opened at $916.48 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $702.00 and a 52 week high of $1,078.24. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $988.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $947.67. 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 has a market capitalization of $406.63 billion, a PE ratio of 53.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 EPS 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, research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

COST has been the topic of several recent research reports. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday. Barclays upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,075.00 price objective (up previously from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.