Chelsea Counsel Co. Has $6.78 Million Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Chelsea Counsel Co. decreased its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,045 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 380 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale accounts for 3.6% of Chelsea Counsel Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Chelsea Counsel Co.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $6,783,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,628,694,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 61,693.5% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,105,124 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,049,630,000 after acquiring an additional 3,100,099 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 3,647.1% during the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 567,641 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $374,688,000 after acquiring an additional 552,492 shares during the period. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth $297,915,000. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 175.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 553,972 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $365,628,000 after purchasing an additional 352,915 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on COST. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $750.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $905.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. Argus raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $805.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $777.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $751.85.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

NASDAQ COST opened at $855.67 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $379.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $774.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $721.45. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $516.54 and a 52-week high of $856.18.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.08. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 30.02%. The company had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.43 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th were paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 28.75%.

Costco Wholesale Company 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.