Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. Increases Stake in Costco Wholesale Co.

Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. has raised its investment in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. This information comes from the firm's latest 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. After acquiring an extra 1,207 shares during the quarter, Envestnet now holds a total of 32,869 shares in Costco. The value of these holdings amounted to $30,117,000 as reported in their most recent filing.

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• Why Costco Stock Is Poised to Hit $1,000 Again Soon

Other hedge funds have also been adjusting their positions in Costco. For instance, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in the company by 1.2% during the previous third quarter, now owning 2,808,255 shares valued at approximately $2.49 billion after adding 32,074 shares. Additionally, Nwam LLC acquired a new investment in Costco during the third quarter, estimated at around $20 million. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp also entered the picture with a new position worth $8.43 million in the fourth quarter, and GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in the company by 15%. Following this increase, GAMMA now owns 7,662 shares valued at around $7.02 million after an addition of 1,001 shares. Furthermore, Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd purchased new shares of Costco worth approximately $984,000. Collectively, institutional investors and hedge funds currently hold 68.48% of Costco's stock.

Analysts Assess Costco's Stock

A number of analysts have provided their insights on Costco's stock performance. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating with an updated target price of $1,075.00, raised from a previous price of $980.00 in a recent note. Raymond James also increased their target for Costco from $990.00 to $1,030.00 while maintaining an “overweight” rating. Similarly, DA Davidson raised its price objective from $900.00 to $1,000.00, assigning a “neutral” rating to the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target from $1,075.00 to $1,175.00, reiterating an “outperform” rating. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price from $1,050.00 to $1,145.00 while recommending a “buy” rating. Currently, analysts reflect a broadly positive sentiment with nine issuing hold ratings and twenty-one issuing buy ratings to Costco's shares. According to MarketBeat data, the stock carries an average rating of "Moderate Buy" with a price target averaging $1,030.43.

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Costco's Stock Performance

Costco Wholesale's stock opened at $903.92 on a recent Friday. The company's financial statistics include a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98, and a quick ratio of 0.43. Costco's moving averages over the past 50 days and 200 days are $989.80 and $944.47, respectively. The firm boasts a market cap of $401.25 billion, a PE ratio of 53.08, and a P/E/G ratio of 6.15. Over the past year, Costco's stock has reached a low of $697.27 and a high of $1,078.24.

• Costco Price Plunge Equals Opportunity for Investors

Costco Wholesale recently announced its quarterly earnings on March 6, revealing earnings per share (EPS) of $4.02, which fell short of the expected $4.09 by $0.07. During the quarter, Costco reported a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%, generating revenues of $63.72 billion which exceeded analyst expectations of $63.02 billion. Analysts predict Costco Wholesale Co. will post an EPS of 18.03 for the current financial year.

Dividend Declaration

In other news, Costco has declared a quarterly dividend that was paid on February 21. Shareholders who were on record as of February 7 received $1.16 per share, which totals an annualized dividend of $4.64, leading to a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date for this payout was set for February 7. Costco's dividend payout ratio presently stands at 27.09%.

Recent Insider Trades

In a separate event, CEO Roland Michael Vachris executed a transaction on March 11, selling 3,600 shares of Costco. The shares were sold at an average price of $931.00, leading to a total sale amount of $3,351,600. After this sale, Vachris holds another 41,077 shares valued roughly at $38.24 million, marking an 8.06% decrease in his overall position. This transaction was duly reported to the SEC and can be reviewed in their filed documents.

About Costco Wholesale

Costco Wholesale Corporation operates membership warehouses across several countries, including the U.S., Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, Japan, the U.K., Korea, Australia, Taiwan, China, Spain, France, Iceland, New Zealand, and Sweden. The company offers a wide selection of branded and private-label items in diverse merchandise categories.

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