111 Capital Takes Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

111 Capital bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 5,360 shares of the retailer's stock, valued at approximately $4,911,000. Costco Wholesale makes up 1.0% of 111 Capital's portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of COST. Stanich Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth about $214,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,739,175 shares of the retailer's stock worth $8,901,249,000 after acquiring an additional 252,118 shares during the last quarter. Brentview Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,522,000. Manuka Financial LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth approximately $258,000. Finally, Flavin Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,494,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on COST shares. Barclays upped 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. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,070.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Cfra Research upgraded Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,035.32.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 4.0%

Shares of COST traded up $40.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $1,048.78. 5,400,884 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,061,175. The business has a 50 day moving average of $983.85 and a 200 day moving average of $975.34. The company has a market capitalization of $465.33 billion, a PE ratio of 61.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $788.20 and a 1-year high of $1,078.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.78 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total transaction of $3,924,280.00. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the business'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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,242,687. The trade was a 8.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,600 shares of company stock valued at $9,140,195 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.