Calamos Advisors LLC Has $74.11 Million Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Calamos Advisors LLC cut its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 112,269 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 1,391 shares during the quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $74,107,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in COST. United Bank increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 9.2% during the first quarter. United Bank now owns 5,254 shares of the retailer's stock worth $3,026,000 after purchasing an additional 444 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 33.6% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 383,691 shares of the retailer's stock worth $220,948,000 after purchasing an additional 96,566 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 87.1% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 232 shares of the retailer's stock worth $134,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Bridgefront Capital LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth $333,000. Finally, Next Century Growth Investors LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.9% during the first quarter. Next Century Growth Investors LLC now owns 3,414 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,965,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director W Craig Jelinek sold 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Costco Wholesale news, Director W Craig Jelinek sold 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $685.93, for a total transaction of $5,487,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 216,212 shares of the company's stock, valued at $148,306,297.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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 approximately $8,967,534.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,727 shares of company stock valued at $8,170,388 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Northcoast Research lowered Costco Wholesale from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $620.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, December 20th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $800.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Roth Mkm upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $601.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Gordon Haskett lowered Costco Wholesale from a "buy" rating to an "accumulate" rating and set a $775.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $691.28.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Costco Wholesale stock traded down $3.94 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $711.25. 1,845,885 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,098,199. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $476.75 and a twelve month high of $787.08. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $730.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $659.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.93. The firm has a market cap of $315.44 billion, a PE ratio of 46.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.77 and a beta of 0.77.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be issued a $1.16 dividend. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.68%.

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.