Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) is Fidelis Capital Partners LLC’s 6th Largest Position

Fidelis Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 12.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 15,184 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,640 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale accounts for about 2.2% of Fidelis Capital Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $10,022,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in COST. Western Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,360 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $11,459,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Gray Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Gray Wealth Management Inc. now owns 551 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $364,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 102,317 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $67,537,000 after acquiring an additional 3,583 shares during the last quarter. Delta Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Delta Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,121 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,720,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dock Street Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at about $205,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COST has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. StockNews.com lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Roth Mkm raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $601.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $800.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $691.28.

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 on 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 12,395 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,967,534.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director W Craig Jelinek sold 8,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $685.93, for a total value of $5,487,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 216,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $148,306,297.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total value of $1,043,258.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 12,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,967,534.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 11,727 shares of company stock worth $8,170,388. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock traded down $4.32 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $706.93. 446,872 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,074,980. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market cap of $313.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.52, a PEG ratio of 4.76 and a beta of 0.77. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $476.75 and a 52 week high of $787.08. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $730.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $659.59.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.09. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 2.73%. The business had revenue of $58.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.30 EPS. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be given a $1.16 dividend. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.66%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio 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.