Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA

Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA trimmed its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 11.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 797 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 103 shares during the period. Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $749,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 74,796.3% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,521,893 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,394,465,000 after purchasing an additional 1,519,861 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 100,422.3% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 796,137 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $729,476,000 after buying an additional 795,345 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 55.7% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,068,772 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $979,284,000 after buying an additional 382,367 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,308,615 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,252,274,000 after buying an additional 324,973 shares during the period. Finally, Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at $157,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $964.31 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $428.06 billion, a PE ratio of 56.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $697.27 and a 1 year high of $1,078.24. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $989.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $942.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98.

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

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 27.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Monday, March 3rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of 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. Roth Mkm raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $755.00 to $907.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,029.00.

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.