Parallel Advisors LLC Has $42.72 Million Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Parallel Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 46,623 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 393 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale makes up 1.0% of Parallel Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Parallel Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $42,719,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 74,796.3% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,521,893 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,394,465,000 after acquiring an additional 1,519,861 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 100,422.3% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 796,137 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $729,476,000 after acquiring an additional 795,345 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 55.7% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,068,772 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $979,284,000 after acquiring an additional 382,367 shares during the period. 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 acquiring an additional 324,973 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 11.2% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,299,535 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,132,519,000 after acquiring an additional 231,969 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 41,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,242,687. This represents a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 1.5 %

COST stock opened at $903.92 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $989.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $944.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $697.27 and a 1-year high of $1,078.24. The stock has a market cap of $401.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.08, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.02 billion. Analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on COST shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price 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. Raymond James lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $990.00 to $1,030.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,000.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,030.43.

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.