Arjuna Capital Sells 103 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Arjuna Capital cut its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,118 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 103 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale accounts for 1.5% of Arjuna Capital’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Arjuna Capital’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $5,606,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cromwell Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,144 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,048,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the period. 44 Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,488 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,196,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. SRN Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. SRN Advisors LLC now owns 3,081 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,823,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the period. Sculati Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the third quarter. Sculati Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,649 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,235,000 after buying an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,708 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,398,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $940.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. 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 research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,000.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,029.00.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $964.31 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $989.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $942.97. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $697.27 and a twelve month high of $1,078.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $428.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.62, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.09 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $63.72 billion for 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%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 27.09%.

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.