Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 987,137 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,243 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.22% of Costco Wholesale worth $904,484,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $8,430,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 15.0% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,662 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,020,000 after acquiring an additional 1,001 shares during the last quarter. Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at $984,000. Stanich Group LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth $214,000. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 15.4% in the fourth quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,913 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $10,916,000 after acquiring an additional 1,590 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $929.66 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $412.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.59, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $988.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $946.86. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $697.27 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.24.

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

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total value of $1,034,011.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,495,211.65. This trade represents a 8.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total transaction of $830,304.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at $6,445,926.72. This trade represents a 11.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,600 shares of company stock valued at $5,215,915 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $840.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,029.00.

About Costco Wholesale

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.