Main Street Research LLC Boosts Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Main Street Research LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 544.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 50,706 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 42,835 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale accounts for 2.7% of Main Street Research LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Main Street Research LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $34,231,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 18.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,634,627 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,941,708,000 after acquiring an additional 1,315,174 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 118,320.2% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,396,524 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,376,513,000 after acquiring an additional 7,390,278 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 210,586 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth $2,328,844,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 3,100,099 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

COST stock traded down $4.24 on Tuesday, hitting $714.04. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 690,726 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,100,947. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $730.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $657.77. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $476.75 and a 1 year high of $787.08. The stock has a market cap of $316.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.87 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is 26.68%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total transaction of $1,072,245.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Costco Wholesale news, Director W Craig Jelinek sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $685.93, for a total value of $5,487,440.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 216,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $148,306,297.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total transaction of $1,072,245.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at $4,785,786.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 13,442 shares of company stock valued at $9,303,768 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the topic of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $795.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $800.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Roth Mkm lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $601.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $691.28.

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.