Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Buys 6,700 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 7.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 96,956 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,700 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale accounts for 1.1% of Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $91,699,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Aspect Partners LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 24.4% during the 1st quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 56 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the period. Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at $58,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at $59,000. Finally, Bank & Trust Co raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 20.4% during the 1st quarter. Bank & Trust Co now owns 65 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,002.77, for a total transaction of $3,008,310.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 58,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,705,164.11. The trade was a 4.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $980.00, for a total value of $536,060.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 11,531 shares in the company, valued at $11,300,380. This trade represents a 4.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 9,547 shares of company stock valued at $9,472,510. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of COST stock opened at $978.85 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $973.82 and a 200 day moving average of $985.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock has a market cap of $434.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.52, a P/E/G ratio of 6.16 and a beta of 0.96. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a twelve month low of $858.50 and a twelve month high of $1,078.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.48% and a net margin of 2.92%. The business’s revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.78 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st will be paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 29.50%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on COST. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,060.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. Wall Street Zen raised Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price target on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Loop Capital dropped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,050.00.

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.