Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Acquired by Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 38.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 352,961 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 98,184 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale comprises approximately 0.8% of Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest position. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund owned about 0.08% of Costco Wholesale worth $232,982,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Enterprise Financial Services Corp raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp now owns 892 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $589,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 870 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $574,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. First National Corp MA ADV lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. First National Corp MA ADV now owns 3,098 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,045,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Morton Capital Management LLC CA grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Morton Capital Management LLC CA now owns 1,564 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,032,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Insight Advisors LLC PA increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Insight Advisors LLC PA now owns 2,736 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,807,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $875.00 target price (up previously from $800.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, May 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $700.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $815.00 to $873.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $845.00 to $860.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $751.85.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $870.75 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $780.22 and a 200-day moving average of $727.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market cap of $386.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.95, a P/E/G ratio of 5.74 and a beta of 0.79. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $516.54 and a twelve month high of $873.96.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.08. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. The firm had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.43 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 25th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 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.