MML Investors Services LLC Has $99.18 Million Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

20 Apr 2025, 15:01 by Kim Johansen · The Markets Daily

MML Investors Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST – Free Report) by 7.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 108,238 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,422 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $99,175,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 136,831 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $125,374,000 after purchasing an additional 1,354 shares in the last quarter. NWK Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. NWK Group Inc. now owns 15,530 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $14,229,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 99,289 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $90,976,000 after acquiring an additional 6,708 shares in the last quarter. Beck Mack & Oliver LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Beck Mack & Oliver LLC now owns 10,493 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $9,614,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Inc. CA lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Inc. CA now owns 45,675 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $41,851,000 after purchasing an additional 3,006 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total transaction of $1,034,011.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,495,211.65. This represents a 8.97 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Insiders have sold a total of 5,600 shares of company stock valued at $5,215,915 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the subject of several analyst reports. Cfra Research upgraded Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,035.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, April 11th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $975.00 price target on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,024.03.

Get Our Latest Stock Report on Costco Wholesale

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 2.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $994.50 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $706.17 and a 52-week high of $1,078.24. 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 stock has a market cap of $441.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.40, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.95. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $975.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $952.83.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.09 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. Analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be issued a $1.30 dividend. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is 27.09%.

About Costco Wholesale

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