Simmons Bank Raises Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Simmons Bank boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 6.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,343 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 721 shares during the period. Simmons Bank’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $7,487,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of COST. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 61,693.5% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,105,124 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,049,630,000 after buying an additional 3,100,099 shares during the period. C WorldWide Group Holding A S acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter valued at about $390,630,000. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at about $297,915,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 18.3% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,088,673 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,180,016,000 after acquiring an additional 323,346 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 34.8% in the 3rd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,161,630 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $656,274,000 after acquiring an additional 300,000 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total value of $1,043,258.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 12,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,967,534.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total value of $1,043,258.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 12,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,967,534.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total transaction of $1,072,245.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,785,786.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,727 shares of company stock valued at $2,682,948 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COST has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $630.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $795.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Roth Mkm upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $601.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $694.48.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of COST stock traded down $7.57 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $763.74. 1,030,722 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,024,366. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $731.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $675.97. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $476.75 and a 1-year high of $787.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market cap of $338.72 billion, a PE ratio of 50.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.95 and a beta of 0.77.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by $0.09. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.73% and a return on equity of 28.80%. The company had revenue of $58.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.11 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.30 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.35%.

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.