Zevin Asset Management LLC Has $28.02 Million Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Zevin Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 6.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,579 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,942 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for approximately 4.1% of Zevin Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Zevin Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $28,019,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in COST. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,808,255 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,489,574,000 after acquiring an additional 32,074 shares during the period. Nwam LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $20,056,000. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $8,430,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,662 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,020,000 after acquiring an additional 1,001 shares during the period. Finally, Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $984,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total transaction 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 $38,242,687. This represents a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $840.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,075.00 price target (up from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,030.43.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST opened at $903.92 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $697.27 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. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $989.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $944.22. The company has a market capitalization of $401.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.08, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.81.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.09 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $63.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. 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.