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

Dillon & Associates Inc. raised its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 8.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,114 shares of the retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 647 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale comprises about 1.0% of Dillon & Associates Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. 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 modified their holdings of the company. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at about $8,430,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,662 shares of the retailer's stock worth $7,020,000 after acquiring an additional 1,001 shares during the last quarter. Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $984,000. Stanich Group LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $214,000. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 15.4% in the 4th quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,913 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $10,916,000 after purchasing an additional 1,590 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST traded up $9.00 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $938.75. The stock had a trading volume of 1,544,850 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,825,127. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The company has a market cap of $416.51 billion, a PE ratio of 55.12, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $697.27 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.24. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $988.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $945.95.

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

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total transaction of $830,304.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. This represents a 11.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total value of $1,034,011.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,165 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,495,211.65. This represents a 8.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,600 shares of company stock valued at $5,215,915 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on COST. Evercore ISI increased their target price 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. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Barclays boosted 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. TD Cowen increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,029.00.

Costco Wholesale Company 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.