National Pension Service Buys 39,012 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

National Pension Service boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 4.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 861,645 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 39,012 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale comprises 0.8% of National Pension Service’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. National Pension Service owned about 0.19% of Costco Wholesale worth $814,927,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,644,711 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $40,332,515,000 after acquiring an additional 443,101 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 106,402.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,160,190 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,717,744,000 after acquiring an additional 8,152,528 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,257,809 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,817,573,000 after acquiring an additional 587,303 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,990,957 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,656,828,000 after acquiring an additional 18,897 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 5.2% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,907,670 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,695,796,000 after acquiring an additional 191,985 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $980.00, for a total value of $536,060.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 11,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,300,380. This trade represents a 4.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total transaction of $3,899,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 5,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,629,419.04. The trade was a 40.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 9,547 shares of company stock valued at $9,472,510. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $991.25 on Wednesday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 52 week low of $856.16 and a 52 week high of $1,078.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $439.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.23, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.96. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $975.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $985.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 30.48%. The business had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $62.93 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.78 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 1st will be paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.50%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on COST shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,050.00.

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.