Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Stock Position Boosted by Intech Investment Management LLC

Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 28.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 68,016 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 14,866 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale accounts for 0.7% of Intech Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $44,896,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,628,694,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.3% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,134,947 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,901,040,000 after purchasing an additional 210,586 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 61,693.5% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,105,124 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,049,630,000 after buying an additional 3,100,099 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,794,480 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,844,581,000 after buying an additional 85,398 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.9% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,689,514 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,519,468,000 after buying an additional 24,274 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on COST shares. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $810.00 to $820.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $630.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $680.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $696.88.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST traded up $13.39 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $809.73. 1,622,970 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,621,363. The firm has a market cap of $359.12 billion, a PE ratio of 52.96, a PEG ratio of 5.39 and a beta of 0.77. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $742.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $696.37. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $476.75 and a 12 month high of $816.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.93.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th were given a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.57%. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 25th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.35%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total transaction of $1,072,245.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.