Norges Bank Makes New $5.18 Billion Investment in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Norges Bank bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 5,655,883 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $5,182,316,000. Costco Wholesale accounts for 0.7% of Norges Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Norges Bank owned approximately 1.27% of Costco Wholesale as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 250.0% during the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Collier Financial purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ COST opened at $929.75 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $412.51 billion, a PE ratio of 54.59, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $697.27 and a 1-year high of $1,078.24. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $987.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $946.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.09 by ($0.07). Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. The business had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.02 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on COST. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $840.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,029.00.

Insider Activity

In other Costco Wholesale news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $38,242,687. This trade represents a 8.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total transaction of $830,304.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. This trade represents a 11.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.