Royal Fund Management LLC Cuts Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Royal Fund Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 48.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 270 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 252 shares during the quarter. Royal Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $247,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in COST. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 113,947.9% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 7,370,916 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,534,464,000 after purchasing an additional 7,364,453 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 55.7% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,068,772 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $979,284,000 after purchasing an additional 382,367 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 75,894.4% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 338,935 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $300,473,000 after buying an additional 338,489 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,308,615 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,252,274,000 after buying an additional 324,973 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,487,057 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,380,648,000 after buying an additional 162,191 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $947.73 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $420.70 billion, a PE ratio of 55.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 0.84. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $675.96 and a 1 year high of $1,008.25. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $950.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $902.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total value of $1,266,866.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 27,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,514,232. This represents a 4.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $840.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Loop Capital increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,005.00 to $1,095.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,013.59.

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.