Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Position Raised by Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 3,155.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,986 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,925 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,820,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Umpqua Bank raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 4,507 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,134,000 after purchasing an additional 577 shares in the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 933 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $855,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Forefront Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,912,000. Plancorp LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Plancorp LLC now owns 3,004 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,753,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at $618,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COST has been the topic of several research reports. Raymond James upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $990.00 to $1,030.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,075.00 price target (up previously from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,029.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total value of $3,351,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,242,687. This trade represents a 8.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 1.5 %

NASDAQ COST opened at $909.26 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The company has a market capitalization of $403.42 billion, a PE ratio of 53.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $697.27 and a 1-year high of $1,078.24. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $987.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $945.06.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its 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 business 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 27.09%.

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.