Rafferty Asset Management LLC Has $47.97 Million Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 9.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 52,348 shares of the retailer's stock after buying an additional 4,718 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $47,965,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth about $8,430,000. Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth about $984,000. Stanich Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth about $214,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,739,175 shares of the retailer's stock worth $8,901,249,000 after purchasing an additional 252,118 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brentview Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth about $4,522,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total transaction of $3,351,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares of the company's stock, valued at $38,242,687. This trade represents a 8.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total value of $3,924,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,994 shares of the company's stock, valued at $43,161,193.58. The trade was a 8.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 9,600 shares of company stock valued at $9,140,195. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Cfra Research raised Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, 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. Ten investment 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.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,024.03.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST stock traded up $15.36 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $1,025.83. The company had a trading volume of 2,026,566 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,042,332. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $961.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $967.12. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $788.20 and a 52-week high of $1,078.24. The stock has a market cap of $455.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.24, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) 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). The firm 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd were issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is currently 30.36%.

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.