Guardian Partners Inc. Invests $9.61 Million in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Guardian Partners Inc. bought a new position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 10,361 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $9,608,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,487,057 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,380,648,000 after acquiring an additional 162,191 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,308,615 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,252,274,000 after buying an additional 324,973 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,077,905 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,820,193,000 after buying an additional 43,414 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.3% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,075,065 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,726,107,000 after buying an additional 70,561 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,899,904 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,657,095,000 after buying an additional 91,649 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on COST. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Barclays increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Loop Capital dropped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,029.00.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the company’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 transaction of $3,351,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,242,687. This represents a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 1.5 %

NASDAQ COST opened at $909.26 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $987.55 and its 200 day moving average is $945.06. 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 Co. has a 12 month low of $697.27 and a 12 month high of $1,078.24. The stock has a market cap of $403.42 billion, a PE ratio of 53.39, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82.

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

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.