American Century Companies Inc. Has $1.29 Billion Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

American Century Companies Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,407,506 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 19,450 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale makes up 0.7% of American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,289,656,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Swedbank AB grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.5% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 443,747 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $393,391,000 after purchasing an additional 6,495 shares during the last quarter. United Bank lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 5,962 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,285,000 after buying an additional 416 shares during the period. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 17.8% in the 3rd quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 1,184 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,049,000 after buying an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 16.0% in the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 15,652 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $14,772,000 after buying an additional 2,156 shares during the period. Finally, 49 Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 36.5% during the third quarter. 49 Wealth Management LLC now owns 962 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $853,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of Costco Wholesale 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,242,687. This trade represents a 8.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $840.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,029.00.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST stock opened at $909.26 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $403.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $697.27 and a 52-week high of $1,078.24. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $987.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $944.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.09 by ($0.07). Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. The company had revenue of $63.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.02 billion. Research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS 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 issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.09%.

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.