Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Raises Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 47.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 293,481 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 94,832 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for 0.7% of Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $193,721,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,134,947 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,901,040,000 after buying an additional 210,586 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 61,693.5% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,794,480 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,844,581,000 after acquiring an additional 85,398 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,689,514 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,519,468,000 after acquiring an additional 24,274 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,580,649 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,457,964,000 after acquiring an additional 28,259 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COST has been the subject of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $795.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $630.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $680.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Seven equities research 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.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $694.48.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director now owns 12,395 shares in the company, valued at $8,967,534.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director now owns 12,395 shares in the company, valued at $8,967,534.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,727 shares of company stock worth $2,682,948. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST traded up $8.55 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $730.77. The company had a trading volume of 715,256 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,024,292. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $476.75 and a 52-week high of $787.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $324.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.61, a PEG ratio of 4.81 and a beta of 0.77. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $730.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $670.09.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by $0.09. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 2.73%. The firm 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 business earned $3.30 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be paid a $1.16 dividend. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.63%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.35%.

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.