Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Has $232.98 Million Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 38.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 352,961 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 98,184 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for approximately 0.8% of Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $232,982,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Enterprise Financial Services Corp raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp now owns 892 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $589,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 870 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $574,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. First National Corp MA ADV grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. First National Corp MA ADV now owns 3,098 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,045,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. Morton Capital Management LLC CA raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Morton Capital Management LLC CA now owns 1,564 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,032,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Insight Advisors LLC PA lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Insight Advisors LLC PA now owns 2,736 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,807,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST opened at $870.75 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $386.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.95, a PEG ratio of 5.74 and a beta of 0.79. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $516.54 and a 12 month high of $873.96. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $780.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $727.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.16 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 30.02%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.43 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th were paid a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 25th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.75%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on COST shares. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $777.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Argus boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $805.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $710.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $700.00 to $765.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $815.00 to $873.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $751.85.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 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.