Stevens Capital Management LP Increases Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Stevens Capital Management LP increased its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 94.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,651 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,744 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for 0.9% of Stevens Capital Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Stevens Capital Management LP’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $3,730,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in COST. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the third quarter worth about $477,000. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 63.8% during the third quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 113 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Park Place Capital Corp grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 9.8% during the third quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 1,044 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $590,000 after buying an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Inscription Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 9.6% during the third quarter. Inscription Capital LLC now owns 956 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $540,000 after buying an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kiley Juergens Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.8% in the third quarter. Kiley Juergens Wealth Management LLC now owns 33,484 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $18,917,000 after acquiring an additional 593 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COST has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $630.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Roth Mkm raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $601.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com cut shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Loop Capital decreased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $795.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $694.48.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 value of $1,072,245.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,785,786.85. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, 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 value of $1,072,245.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,785,786.85. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total transaction of $1,043,258.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 12,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,967,534.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,727 shares of company stock valued at $2,682,948 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST traded up $7.32 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $729.18. 1,512,797 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,055,583. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $476.75 and a 1-year high of $787.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $323.39 billion, a PE ratio of 47.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.93. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $730.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $664.86.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $58.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.30 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 26.68%.

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.