Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Cuts Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp cut its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 7.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 266,192 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 21,392 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale comprises about 0.6% of Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $243,904,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,201,610 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $38,668,069,000 after purchasing an additional 455,043 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,487,057 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,380,648,000 after purchasing an additional 162,191 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.6% during 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. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,077,905 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,820,193,000 after purchasing an additional 43,414 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 2.3% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,075,065 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,726,107,000 after acquiring an additional 70,561 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on COST. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,075.00 price objective (up from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,029.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at $38,242,687. The trade was a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $926.04 on Tuesday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $697.27 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.24. The company has a market cap of $410.87 billion, a PE ratio of 54.38, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $987.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $945.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued 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 company had revenue of $63.72 billion during 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.09%.

About Costco Wholesale

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.