Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Purchased by Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 38.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 329,277 shares of the retailer's stock after buying an additional 91,596 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for about 1.0% of Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio's investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio owned approximately 0.07% of Costco Wholesale worth $301,707,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pacific Point Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,055,000. Strait & Sound Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Strait & Sound Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,956 shares of the retailer's stock worth $5,457,000 after buying an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Helium Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,097,000. Finally, BIP Alliance LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth approximately $229,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,024.03.

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View Our Latest Analysis on Costco Wholesale

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $1,018.13 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $451.73 billion, a PE ratio of 59.78, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $788.20 and a 1 year high of $1,078.24. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $971.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $971.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

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Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. Analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio is currently 30.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total transaction of $830,304.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,987 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,445,926.72. The trade was a 11.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total transaction of $3,924,280.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,994 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $43,161,193.58. This represents a 8.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 9,600 shares of company stock valued at $9,140,195 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

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.

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