Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Position Raised by Dillon & Associates Inc.

Dillon & Associates Inc. raised its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 8.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 8,114 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 647 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale makes up about 1.0% of Dillon & Associates Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Dillon & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $7,432,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 74,796.3% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,521,893 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,394,465,000 after purchasing an additional 1,519,861 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 100,422.3% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 796,137 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $729,476,000 after purchasing an additional 795,345 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,201,610 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $38,668,069,000 after purchasing an additional 455,043 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 55.7% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,068,772 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $979,284,000 after purchasing an additional 382,367 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,308,615 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,252,274,000 after purchasing an additional 324,973 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST opened at $909.26 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $697.27 and a 1 year high of $1,078.24. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $987.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $945.45. The stock has a market cap of $403.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.39, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82.

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

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 27.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. Barclays lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $1,075.00 target price (up from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,029.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total transaction of $3,351,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 41,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,242,687. This represents a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.