Van ECK Associates Corp Has $63.05 Million Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 5.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 95,517 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 4,595 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $63,049,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 61,693.5% in 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 buying an additional 3,100,099 shares during the last quarter. C WorldWide Group Holding A S bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter valued at about $390,630,000. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at about $297,915,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 18.3% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,088,673 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,180,016,000 after purchasing an additional 323,346 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 34.8% during the third quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,161,630 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $656,274,000 after purchasing an additional 300,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on COST. Roth Mkm increased 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. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $795.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $800.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $694.48.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of COST stock traded down $6.52 on Tuesday, reaching $719.81. The company had a trading volume of 261,579 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,027,264. The stock has a market capitalization of $319.24 billion, a PE ratio of 47.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.86 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The business’s 50-day moving average is $730.46 and its 200 day moving average is $668.62. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $476.75 and a one year high of $787.08.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its 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. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 2.73%. The firm had revenue of $58.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.11 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.30 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be given a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 30.35%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total value of $1,072,245.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at $4,785,786.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total value of $1,072,245.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 3,727 shares of company stock valued at $2,682,948. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.