Palogic Value Management L.P. Invests $204,000 in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Palogic Value Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 223 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 74,796.3% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,521,893 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,394,465,000 after acquiring an additional 1,519,861 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 100,422.3% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 796,137 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $729,476,000 after acquiring an additional 795,345 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 55.7% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,068,772 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $979,284,000 after acquiring an additional 382,367 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,308,615 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,252,274,000 after acquiring an additional 324,973 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 11.2% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,299,535 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,132,519,000 after acquiring an additional 231,969 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $895.40 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $697.27 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.24. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $988.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $944.49. The company has a market cap of $397.47 billion, a PE ratio of 52.58, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82.

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

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 27.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on COST shares. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, March 7th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,035.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,029.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total transaction of $3,351,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,242,687. The trade was a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.