Horizon Investments LLC Increases Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Horizon Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,824 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 185 shares during the period. Horizon Investments LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $6,246,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,808,255 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,489,574,000 after purchasing an additional 32,074 shares during the last quarter. Nwam LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter valued at $20,056,000. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth about $8,430,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 15.0% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,662 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,020,000 after buying an additional 1,001 shares during the period. Finally, Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at $984,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST stock opened at $916.61 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $406.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $697.27 and a 1 year high of $1,078.24. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $989.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $945.08.

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

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on COST shares. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,075.00 target price (up previously from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,030.43.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were 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 owns 41,077 shares in the company, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.