Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. Raises Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 5.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,005 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale makes up 0.8% of Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,841,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,201,610 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $38,668,069,000 after acquiring an additional 455,043 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,487,057 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,380,648,000 after purchasing an additional 162,191 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at about $5,182,316,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,077,905 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,820,193,000 after buying an additional 43,414 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,899,904 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,657,095,000 after buying an additional 91,649 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,075.00 price target (up from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,029.00.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ:COST opened at $929.66 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $697.27 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.24. The firm has a market cap of $412.47 billion, a PE ratio of 54.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $988.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $946.86.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.09 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $63.72 billion during 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.09%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total transaction of $3,351,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 41,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,242,687. The trade was a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total transaction of $830,304.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,445,926.72. This trade represents a 11.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 5,600 shares of company stock worth $5,215,915. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.