Pendal Group Ltd bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST – Get Rating) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 1,382 shares of the retailer's stock, valued at approximately $631,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cowa LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 1,050.0% in the 3rd quarter. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC now owns 69 shares of the retailer's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Newfound Research LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Focused Wealth Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 275.0% during the fourth quarter. Focused Wealth Management Inc now owns 90 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Piershale Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COST has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $574.00 to $575.00 in a research note on Friday, March 3rd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $600.00 to $555.00 in a report on Friday, December 9th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $565.00 to $545.00 in a research note on Friday, December 9th. Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $650.00 to $600.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 23rd. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday, December 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $550.16.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP James C. Klauer sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $503.69, for a total value of $1,259,225.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 40,884 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,592,861.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP James C. Klauer sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $503.69, for a total transaction of $1,259,225.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 40,884 shares in the company, valued at $20,592,861.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Richard A. Galanti sold 2,068 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $483.32, for a total transaction of $999,505.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 25,350 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,252,162. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 6,068 shares of company stock valued at $2,992,156. Insiders own 0.22% of the company's stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $490.87 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $217.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.07, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.79. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $406.51 and a 1 year high of $612.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $494.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $489.99.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 2nd. The retailer reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.10. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.66% and a net margin of 2.58%. The business had revenue of $55.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.61 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.92 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 14.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.90 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 2nd. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.45%.

About Costco Wholesale

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Costco Wholesale Corp. engages in the operation of membership warehouses through wholly owned subsidiaries. It operates through the following geographical segments: United States, Canada, and Other International Operations. The company was founded by James D. Sinegal and Jeffrey H. Brotman in 1983 and is headquartered in Issaquah, WA.

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