Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Has $196.70 Million Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 214,674 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,502 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $196,699,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of COST. Next Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 30.6% during the fourth quarter. Next Capital Management LLC now owns 324 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $297,000 after buying an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,679 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,371,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 23.8% in the fourth quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 40,687 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $37,168,000 after acquiring an additional 7,829 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 2,280 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,089,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vinva Investment Management Ltd lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 22,112 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $20,392,000 after purchasing an additional 1,494 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ:COST opened at $904.05 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $401.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.09, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $988.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $944.83.

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

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. 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 stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total value of $3,351,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at $38,242,687. This represents a 8.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on COST shares. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,075.00 target price (up from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. Roth Mkm upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $755.00 to $907.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Nine equities 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,030.43.

Costco Wholesale Company 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.