California Public Employees Retirement System Has $1.02 Billion Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

California Public Employees Retirement System cut its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 7.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,537,841 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 131,249 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale makes up approximately 0.8% of California Public Employees Retirement System’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.35% of Costco Wholesale worth $1,015,098,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Richelieu Gestion SA acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 200.0% in the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Steph & Co. grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 42.3% in the third quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 74 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on COST shares. Loop Capital decreased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Gordon Haskett cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $680.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $800.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped 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. Seven 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 presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $691.28.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, Director W Craig Jelinek sold 8,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now owns 216,212 shares in the company, valued at $148,306,297.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director W Craig Jelinek sold 8,000 shares of the 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 sale, the director now owns 216,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $148,306,297.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total value of $1,072,245.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 11,727 shares of company stock worth $8,170,388. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ:COST traded up $5.95 on Monday, hitting $715.46. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,435,766 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,089,802. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $730.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $661.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $317.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.73 and a beta of 0.77. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $476.75 and a one year high of $787.08.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.68%.

Costco Wholesale 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.