Schroder Investment Management Group Increases Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 5.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 588,028 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 32,346 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group owned 0.13% of Costco Wholesale worth $542,285,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. United Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 5,962 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,285,000 after buying an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 182.1% during the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 409 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $363,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 5,377 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,767,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Isthmus Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the third quarter valued at approximately $328,000. Finally, Worldly Partners Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.7% during the third quarter. Worldly Partners Management LLC now owns 90,416 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $80,156,000 after purchasing an additional 622 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on COST. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target 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. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $990.00 to $1,030.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,029.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at $38,242,687. This represents a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total transaction of $830,304.00. Following 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 5,600 shares of company stock valued at $5,215,915. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ:COST opened at $929.66 on Friday. 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 stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $988.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $946.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $412.47 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 52-week low of $697.27 and a 52-week high of $1,078.24.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.02 billion. Analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.09%.

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.