Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC Increases Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 5.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,802 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 137 shares during the quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,850,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of COST. United Bank grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 9.2% in the first quarter. United Bank now owns 5,254 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,026,000 after purchasing an additional 444 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 33.6% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 383,691 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $220,948,000 after purchasing an additional 96,566 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 87.1% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 232 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $134,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Bridgefront Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the first quarter valued at $333,000. Finally, Next Century Growth Investors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.9% in the first quarter. Next Century Growth Investors LLC now owns 3,414 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,965,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $662.30, for a total value of $927,220.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 13,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,220,540.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 15,582 shares of company stock worth $10,736,778 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on COST shares. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $750.00 to $785.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. DA Davidson raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 15th. Northcoast Research downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $620.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, December 20th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $615.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 15th. Finally, Loop Capital raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $710.00 to $755.00 in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $668.50.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of COST stock traded up $0.55 on Thursday, hitting $732.63. The stock had a trading volume of 1,711,632 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,158,359. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $724.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $642.61. The company has a market cap of $324.92 billion, a PE ratio of 47.90, a P/E/G ratio of 5.07 and a beta of 0.77. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $476.75 and a one year high of $787.08.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $58.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.11 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 2.73%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.30 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 2nd were paid a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 1st. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.68%.

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.