Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC Has $18.09 Million Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 16.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,122 shares of the retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 2,738 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises 3.4% of Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $18,085,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 250.0% in the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Collier Financial bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Barrett & Company Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 59.3% during the fourth quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. now owns 43 shares of the retailer's stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on COST. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,035.32.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total transaction of $830,304.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. This represents a 11.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total transaction of $3,924,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,994 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $43,161,193.58. This represents a 8.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 9,600 shares of company stock valued at $9,140,195. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock traded up $4.13 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $1,014.94. 1,852,907 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,054,992. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $793.00 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.24. The company has a market cap of $450.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $992.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $978.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. The firm had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $62.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.78 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS 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 dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.50%.

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.