Jennison Associates LLC Trims Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Jennison Associates LLC lessened its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 6.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,359,739 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 215,106 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale makes up about 1.7% of Jennison Associates LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Jennison Associates LLC owned approximately 0.76% of Costco Wholesale worth $2,217,697,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of COST. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 61,693.5% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,105,124 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,049,630,000 after acquiring an additional 3,100,099 shares in the last quarter. C WorldWide Group Holding A S bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 3rd quarter valued at $390,630,000. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at $297,915,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 18.3% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,088,673 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,180,016,000 after purchasing an additional 323,346 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 34.8% in the 3rd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,161,630 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $656,274,000 after purchasing an additional 300,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, Director W Craig Jelinek sold 8,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $685.93, for a total value of $5,487,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 216,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $148,306,297.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Costco Wholesale news, Director W Craig Jelinek sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $685.93, for a total transaction of $5,487,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 216,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $148,306,297.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the business’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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,228,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,727 shares of company stock worth $8,170,388 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST traded down $0.11 during trading on Monday, reaching $709.40. 411,648 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,076,930. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $730.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $661.85. The stock has a market cap of $314.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.33, a PEG ratio of 4.73 and a beta of 0.77. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $476.75 and a 12-month high of $787.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.09. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 2.73%. The firm had revenue of $58.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.30 EPS. Costco Wholesale’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th will be paid a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 26.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Roth Mkm raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $601.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $800.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $691.28.

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.