Congress Asset Management Co. MA Has $203.65 Million Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Congress Asset Management Co. MA lowered its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 277,971 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 6,940 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for approximately 1.5% of Congress Asset Management Co. MA’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Congress Asset Management Co. MA owned approximately 0.06% of Costco Wholesale worth $203,650,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at $3,628,694,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 61,693.5% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,105,124 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,049,630,000 after acquiring an additional 3,100,099 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 3,647.1% during the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 567,641 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $374,688,000 after acquiring an additional 552,492 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,360,168 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $26,640,940,000 after acquiring an additional 485,051 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth $297,915,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was 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 owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $700.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $815.00 to $873.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $676.00 price objective (up from $650.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, May 31st. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $710.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $752.96.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of COST opened at $848.31 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $376.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.56, a P/E/G ratio of 5.70 and a beta of 0.79. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $519.34 and a 1 year high of $873.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $788.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $731.70.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.16 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.43 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 25th. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.75%.

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.