Madison Investment Advisors LLC Invests $30.73 Million in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Madison Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 33,543 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $30,734,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of COST. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,487,057 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,380,648,000 after purchasing an additional 162,191 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,308,615 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,252,274,000 after purchasing an additional 324,973 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,399,127 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,013,394,000 after purchasing an additional 125,444 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,077,905 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,820,193,000 after purchasing an additional 43,414 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,075,065 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,726,107,000 after purchasing an additional 70,561 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

COST stock opened at $927.08 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market cap of $411.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.44, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.81. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $990.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $944.52. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $697.27 and a 52 week high of $1,078.24.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.09 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $63.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. Research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $1,075.00 target price (up previously from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,030.43.

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.