Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by Mount Lucas Management LP

Mount Lucas Management LP cut its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 5.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,831 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale accounts for 1.2% of Mount Lucas Management LP’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest position. Mount Lucas Management LP’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $3,510,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Swedbank AB boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 443,747 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $393,391,000 after acquiring an additional 6,495 shares during the last quarter. Holistic Planning LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the third quarter worth about $203,000. United Bank boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 5,962 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,285,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares during the last quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $269,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 39,631 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $35,134,000 after buying an additional 4,785 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,000.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,029.00.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST opened at $964.31 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $428.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $697.27 and a 52-week 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $989.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $943.88.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its 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 net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. The company had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.02 billion. Research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.09%.

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.