Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by William Blair Investment Management LLC

William Blair Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 337,185 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 4,680 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises about 0.8% of William Blair Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned about 0.08% of Costco Wholesale worth $308,952,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in COST. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 250.0% in the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Collier Financial purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $840.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,075.00 price objective (up from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Roth Mkm raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $755.00 to $907.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Raymond James raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $990.00 to $1,030.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,030.43.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total transaction of $3,351,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,242,687. This represents a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST stock opened at $903.92 on Monday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $697.27 and a 12-month high of $1,078.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $401.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $989.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $944.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.09 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.09%.

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.