Alliancebernstein L.P. Sells 62,453 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Alliancebernstein L.P. lessened its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,313,964 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 62,453 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises approximately 1.3% of Alliancebernstein L.P.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned approximately 0.97% of Costco Wholesale worth $3,952,756,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of COST. Cromwell Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,144 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,048,000 after buying an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,488 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,196,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. SRN Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. SRN Advisors LLC now owns 3,081 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,823,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Miramar Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Miramar Capital LLC now owns 525 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $481,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 22.2% in the fourth quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 55 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on COST shares. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price 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. Citigroup increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $990.00 to $1,030.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,029.00.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $929.66 on Monday. 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 moving average of $988.07 and a 200-day moving average of $946.86. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $697.27 and a 52-week high of $1,078.24. The stock has a market cap of $412.47 billion, a PE ratio of 54.59, a PEG 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 (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 business had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.02 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total value of $3,351,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,242,687. This trade represents a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total transaction of $1,034,011.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 11,165 shares in the company, valued at $10,495,211.65. This represents a 8.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,600 shares of company stock valued at $5,215,915 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.