Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Acquired by Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 5.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 161,152 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,866 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $106,373,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 18.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,634,627 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,941,708,000 after acquiring an additional 1,315,174 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 118,320.2% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,396,524 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,376,513,000 after purchasing an additional 7,390,278 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.3% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,134,947 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,901,040,000 after purchasing an additional 210,586 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth about $2,328,844,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 61,693.5% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,105,124 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,049,630,000 after purchasing an additional 3,100,099 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on COST. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $800.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Loop Capital reduced their price target on Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $680.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Northcoast Research cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $620.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, December 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $691.28.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of COST stock traded down $2.31 on Tuesday, hitting $715.97. The stock had a trading volume of 1,403,453 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,111,425. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $317.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.16, a P/E/G ratio of 4.87 and a beta of 0.77. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $476.75 and a 1 year high of $787.08. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $730.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $657.77.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.09. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 2.73%. The firm had revenue of $58.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.30 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is 26.68%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total value of $1,072,245.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director W Craig Jelinek sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $685.93, for a total value of $5,487,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 216,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $148,306,297.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total value of $1,072,245.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,785,786.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 13,442 shares of company stock worth $9,303,768 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.