B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Sells 7,524 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG reduced its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 13.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 49,237 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 7,524 shares during the quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $45,187,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of COST. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth about $8,430,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,662 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,020,000 after acquiring an additional 1,001 shares in the last quarter. Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $984,000. Stanich Group LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $214,000. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 15.4% during the fourth quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,913 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $10,916,000 after purchasing an additional 1,590 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

COST stock opened at $929.66 on Monday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $697.27 and a one year high of $1,078.24. The firm has a market cap of $412.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.59, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $988.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $946.86.

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

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.09%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were 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 owns 41,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,242,687. The trade was a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total transaction of $830,304.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. This represents a 11.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,600 shares of company stock valued at $5,215,915 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on COST. Barclays increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $990.00 to $1,030.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,029.00.

Costco Wholesale 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.