Enterprise Financial Services Corp Boosts Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Enterprise Financial Services Corp raised its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 5.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 869 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $796,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sowell Financial Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 19.5% during the 4th quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC now owns 21,150 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $19,379,000 after purchasing an additional 3,445 shares in the last quarter. M. Kulyk & Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. M. Kulyk & Associates LLC now owns 259 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $237,000 after buying an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Miramar Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Miramar Capital LLC now owns 525 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $481,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Argentarii LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,998,000. Finally, Garrison Bradford & Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Garrison Bradford & Associates Inc. now owns 12,087 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $11,075,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,075.00 price target (up previously from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Roth Mkm increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $755.00 to $907.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,029.00.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 6.1 %

COST stock opened at $964.31 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $428.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.62, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $697.27 and a twelve month high of $1,078.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The business has a fifty day moving average of $989.69 and a 200-day moving average of $943.44.

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

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.09%.

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.