Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI Sells 2,696 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI trimmed its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 53,171 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 2,696 shares during the quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $48,719,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of COST. Stanich Group LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth $214,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,739,175 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,901,249,000 after purchasing an additional 252,118 shares during the period. Brentview Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth $4,522,000. Manuka Financial LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth $258,000. Finally, Flavin Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth $1,494,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on COST. Loop Capital decreased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,045.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. DA Davidson raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Truist Financial raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,024.03.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $43,161,193.58. This represents a 8.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total value of $830,304.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. This represents a 11.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 9,600 shares of company stock worth $9,140,195. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $1,034.34 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $458.92 billion, a PE ratio of 60.74, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $963.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $969.49. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $788.20 and a one year high of $1,078.24.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.02 billion. Research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 30.36%.

Costco Wholesale 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.