Renaissance Investment Group LLC Buys 249 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Renaissance Investment Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST – Get Rating) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 24,420 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 249 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises about 3.3% of Renaissance Investment Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Renaissance Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $11,148,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 32.7% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,345,886 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,052,432,000 after purchasing an additional 1,070,128 shares during the last quarter. Public Investment Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the second quarter worth $496,810,000. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the third quarter worth $331,438,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 39,030,429 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $18,432,900,000 after purchasing an additional 491,837 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 19.1% during the second quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 3,045,401 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,459,600,000 after purchasing an additional 488,601 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on COST shares. MKM Partners cut their target price on Costco Wholesale from $512.00 to $484.00 in a research report on Friday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Costco Wholesale from $525.00 to $520.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Costco Wholesale from $490.00 to $450.00 in a research report on Friday, December 9th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Costco Wholesale from $565.00 to $545.00 in a research report on Friday, December 9th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on Costco Wholesale from $545.00 to $530.00 in a research report on Friday, December 9th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $550.16.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $487.05 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $492.96 and a 200-day moving average of $491.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The company has a market capitalization of $216.00 billion, a PE ratio of 35.79, a P/E/G ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.79. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $406.51 and a 1-year high of $612.27.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 2nd. The retailer reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $55.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.61 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.66% and a net margin of 2.58%. The company’s revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.92 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 14.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 3rd were paid a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 2nd. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale news, CFO Richard A. Galanti sold 2,068 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $483.32, for a total value of $999,505.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 25,350 shares in the company, valued at $12,252,162. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Costco Wholesale news, CFO Richard A. Galanti sold 2,068 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $483.32, for a total value of $999,505.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 25,350 shares in the company, valued at $12,252,162. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP James C. Klauer sold 2,500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $503.69, for a total value of $1,259,225.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 40,884 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,592,861.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 6,068 shares of company stock worth $2,992,156. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Costco Wholesale Corp. engages in the operation of membership warehouses through wholly owned subsidiaries. It operates through the following geographical segments: United States, Canada, and Other International Operations. The company was founded by James D. Sinegal and Jeffrey H. Brotman in 1983 and is headquartered in Issaquah, WA.