TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. Grows Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 179,045 shares of the retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 5,829 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale makes up approximately 1.3% of TD Waterhouse Canada Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest holding. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc.'s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $164,059,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Morse Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 20.1% in the 3rd quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc now owns 7,481 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $6,632,000 after acquiring an additional 1,254 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 2.0% in the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 7,996 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $7,088,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Fulcrum Equity Management boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 76.8% during the third quarter. Fulcrum Equity Management now owns 633 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $561,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the period. Eaton Financial Holdings Company LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the third quarter worth approximately $216,000. Finally, Sculati Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the third quarter. Sculati Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,649 shares of the retailer's stock worth $3,235,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total transaction of $830,304.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,987 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,445,926.72. The trade was a 11.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares of the company's stock, 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 9,600 shares of company stock worth $9,140,195. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Costco Wholesale stock traded down $3.39 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $975.84. 2,106,985 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,026,353. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $714.41 and a 12 month high of $1,078.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $432.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.95. The business has a 50 day moving average of $971.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $954.07.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 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 the consensus estimate of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. As a group, research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and set a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Cfra Research upgraded Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Ten equities research 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, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,024.03.

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.