Vestcor Inc Has $17 Million Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Vestcor Inc cut its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 18,549 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 438 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $16,996,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,808,255 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,489,574,000 after buying an additional 32,074 shares in the last quarter. Nwam LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the third quarter valued at $20,056,000. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at $8,430,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,662 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,020,000 after purchasing an additional 1,001 shares during the period. Finally, Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at $984,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $927.08 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $990.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $944.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $697.27 and a 52 week high of $1,078.24. The stock has a market cap of $411.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.44, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.81.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.09 by ($0.07). Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. The company had revenue of $63.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.02 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 27.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $840.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,030.43.

Costco Wholesale 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.