Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Grows Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 9.5% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 389,883 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 33,720 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises approximately 0.9% 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 $331,397,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,833,870 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $29,916,118,000 after buying an additional 473,702 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 8.1% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,824,778 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,802,147,000 after acquiring an additional 285,533 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 2.5% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,650,562 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,102,941,000 after purchasing an additional 88,550 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,790,935 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,842,241,000 after purchasing an additional 81,853 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 28.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,538,078 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,307,363,000 after purchasing an additional 338,780 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the subject of a number of research reports. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $955.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $874.00 to $962.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $870.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $855.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $927.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $883.04.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $877.38 on Wednesday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $540.23 and a 1 year high of $923.83. 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 company has a market capitalization of $388.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.36, a P/E/G ratio of 5.47 and a beta of 0.80. The business has a 50 day moving average of $871.96 and a 200-day moving average of $819.44.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.86 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 16.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 26th were issued a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 26th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 28.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total value of $543,430.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,775 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,320,787.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total value of $543,430.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,775 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,320,787.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total transaction of $298,035.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,920 shares in the company, valued at $5,041,057.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 4,974 shares of company stock valued at $4,252,856. Corporate 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.