Marsico Capital Management LLC Grows Stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Marsico Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 137,413 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,924 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale accounts for about 3.7% of Marsico Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Marsico Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $136,031,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter valued at about $3,461,159,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 418,980.3% during the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 2,359,422 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,335,686,000 after purchasing an additional 2,358,859 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.7% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,356,271 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $42,920,107,000 after purchasing an additional 711,560 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 84.0% during the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 812,188 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $768,114,000 after purchasing an additional 370,806 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 15,055.5% in the second quarter. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. now owns 320,994 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $317,722,000 after purchasing an additional 318,876 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on COST shares. BTIG Research started coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $1,115.00 price objective for the company. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,130.00 to $1,050.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $950.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,025.07.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 2,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $935.68, for a total value of $2,526,336.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 6,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,410,343.68. The trade was a 28.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP William Richard Wilcox sold 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $930.13, for a total transaction of $2,232,312.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 2,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,860,260. This represents a 54.55% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 9,720 shares of company stock valued at $9,010,257. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of COST opened at $893.29 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 1.03. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $929.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $963.93. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 52 week low of $871.71 and a 52 week high of $1,078.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $395.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.05, a P/E/G ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.98.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.81 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $86.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.01 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 2.94%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.15 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 31st. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 28.56%.

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.