Prudential Financial Inc. Acquires 983 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Prudential Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 386,380 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 983 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. owned 0.09% of Costco Wholesale worth $354,028,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 250.0% during the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Collier Financial bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COST has been the topic of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,029.00.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $909.26 on Monday. 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 $403.42 billion, a PE ratio of 53.39, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $987.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $945.45.

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 company had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.02 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were given a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 27.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.