Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Has $47.23 Million Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. reduced its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 22.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 51,541 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 14,858 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $47,225,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $927.08 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $990.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $944.52. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $697.27 and a one year high of $1,078.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market cap of $411.53 billion, a PE ratio of 54.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.81.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $63.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.02 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on COST shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Roth Mkm increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $755.00 to $907.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Raymond James increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $990.00 to $1,030.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target 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. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.