Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Has $180.02 Million Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lessened its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 196,472 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 9,397 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $180,021,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Cromwell Holdings LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,144 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,048,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,488 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,196,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. SRN Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. SRN Advisors LLC now owns 3,081 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,823,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the period. Miramar Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Miramar Capital LLC now owns 525 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $481,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 22.2% during the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 55 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $967.08 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $989.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $947.61. The stock has a market cap of $429.08 billion, a PE ratio of 56.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $702.00 and a 12-month high of $1,078.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 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 business had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.02 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 27.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on COST. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,035.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $990.00 to $1,030.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,029.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total value of $3,351,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,242,687. The trade was a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total transaction of $830,304.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,445,926.72. This represents a 11.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,600 shares of company stock valued at $5,215,915 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.