AIA Group Ltd Boosts Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

AIA Group Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 68.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,302 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,814 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $13,104,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,182,316,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 74,796.3% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,521,893 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,394,465,000 after acquiring an additional 1,519,861 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 795,345 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 55.7% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,068,772 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $979,284,000 after purchasing an additional 382,367 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the company’s 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 owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,242,687. This represents a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total transaction of $830,304.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,445,926.72. This trade represents a 11.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,600 shares of company stock worth $5,215,915 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ:COST opened at $929.66 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $988.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $946.86. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $697.27 and a 1-year high of $1,078.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $412.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.59, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.09 by ($0.07). The business 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%. Analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on COST shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $840.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,029.00.

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.