Ascent Capital Management LLC Takes $912,000 Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Ascent Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 995 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $912,000. Costco Wholesale accounts for approximately 0.9% of Ascent Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 74,796.3% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,521,893 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,394,465,000 after purchasing an additional 1,519,861 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 100,422.3% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 796,137 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $729,476,000 after buying an additional 795,345 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 55.7% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,068,772 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $979,284,000 after acquiring an additional 382,367 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased 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 worth $8,252,274,000 after acquiring an additional 324,973 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 11.2% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,299,535 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,132,519,000 after purchasing an additional 231,969 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $903.92 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $989.80 and its 200 day moving average is $944.47. The company has a market cap of $401.25 billion, a PE ratio of 53.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.81. 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 twelve month low of $697.27 and a twelve month high of $1,078.24.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its 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 business had revenue of $63.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total value of $3,351,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 41,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,242,687. The trade was a 8.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on COST. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Roth Mkm increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $755.00 to $907.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,030.43.

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.