Addenda Capital Inc. Sells 2,900 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Addenda Capital Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 16.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,016 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 2,900 shares during the period. Addenda Capital Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $11,001,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,360,168 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $26,640,940,000 after purchasing an additional 485,051 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $3,628,694,000. Capital World Investors raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,539,245 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,336,198,000 after buying an additional 132,292 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 61,693.5% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,105,124 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,049,630,000 after buying an additional 3,100,099 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,794,480 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,844,581,000 after acquiring an additional 85,398 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $860.00 to $890.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. Roth Mkm reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $676.00 price target (up from $650.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $815.00 to $873.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $805.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $905.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $756.85.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST traded down $0.63 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $849.99. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,131,425 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,971,647. The stock has a market capitalization of $376.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.66, a PEG ratio of 5.67 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $801.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $739.18. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $524.63 and a 12-month high of $873.96.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.08. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. The business had revenue of $58.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.43 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 25th. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.75%.

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.