United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund Has $45.34 Million Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 49,483 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,100 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale makes up 1.8% of United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $45,340,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Arlington Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Arlington Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,401 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,284,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Graney & King LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at about $137,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth approximately $92,000. Excalibur Management Corp grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Excalibur Management Corp now owns 1,531 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,403,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the period. Finally, Core Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Core Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,669 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,446,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on COST shares. Roth Mkm increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $755.00 to $907.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. 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 note on Friday, March 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $990.00 to $1,030.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,029.00.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.5 %

COST stock opened at $930.26 on Wednesday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $697.27 and a 52 week high of $1,078.24. The company has a market capitalization of $412.74 billion, a PE ratio of 54.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $987.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $946.11. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.09 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $63.72 billion for 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total value of $830,304.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total transaction of $3,351,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at $38,242,687. This trade represents a 8.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale Company 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.