Congress Asset Management Co. MA Lowers Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Congress Asset Management Co. MA cut its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 284,911 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 860 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises about 1.5% of Congress Asset Management Co. MA’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position. Congress Asset Management Co. MA’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $188,064,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Enterprise Financial Services Corp lifted its position in shares of 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. lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 870 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $574,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. First National Corp MA ADV lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. First National Corp MA ADV now owns 3,098 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,045,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Morton Capital Management LLC CA lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Morton Capital Management LLC CA now owns 1,564 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,032,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Insight Advisors LLC PA lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of COST traded up $9.71 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $855.67. 1,395,485 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,735,517. The stock has a market cap of $379.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.02, a P/E/G ratio of 5.66 and a beta of 0.79. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $774.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $723.29. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $516.54 and a 12 month high of $856.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.45.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on COST. Roth Mkm restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $676.00 price objective (up from $650.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Telsey Advisory Group lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 6th. StockNews.com raised Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, June 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $751.85.

Insider Activity

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 in the company, valued at $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.