Symmetry Partners LLC Acquires 720 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Symmetry Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 194.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,090 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 720 shares during the period. Symmetry Partners LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $999,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in COST. Swedbank AB increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.5% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 443,747 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $393,391,000 after purchasing an additional 6,495 shares in the last quarter. United Bank grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.5% during the third quarter. United Bank now owns 5,962 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,285,000 after buying an additional 416 shares during the last quarter. Thompson Davis & CO. Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.9% during the third quarter. Thompson Davis & CO. Inc. now owns 1,395 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,237,000 after buying an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the third quarter valued at approximately $195,000. Finally, Strategy Asset Managers LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 41.6% during the third quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC now owns 4,302 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,813,000 after buying an additional 1,264 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on 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 completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $904.05 on Thursday. 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 company has a market cap of $401.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.09, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $988.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $944.83. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $697.27 and a 52-week high of $1,078.24.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 27.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI increased 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. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.