Shares of Costco (NASDAQ:COST) stock are in the green after the company announced its first-quarter fiscal 2024 earnings. Notably, the global warehouse retailer also declared a special cash dividend of $15 per share. The dividend will be payable on Jan. 12, 2024 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on Dec. 28. The total value of the dividend will be approximately $6.7 billion.
During the quarter, revenue tallied in at $57.79 billion, up by 6.17% year-over-year (YOY) and in-line with the analyst estimate for $57.79 billion. EPS was $3.58 as well, equivalent to net income of $1.589 billion and coming out on top of the analyst estimate for $3.41.
Meanwhile, Costco’s paid household members grew by 7.2% YOY to 72 million. Its cardholders also increased by 7.1% to 129.5 million.
Analysts across the board were impressed by the numbers. For example, BMO Capital analyst Kelly Bania raised her price target to $700 from $612. Bania added:
“Given Costco’s uniquely positioned business model that continues to demonstrate consistency along with its extreme value positioning relative to peers, we are raising our target price.”
Jefferies raised its target to $725 from $680, while Baird raised its target to $675 from $600, among others.
5 Investors Betting Big on COST Stock
Tracking institutional ownership is important, as these large investors provide liquidity and support for stocks. Costco certainly has healthy institutional ownership, as 2,918 13F filers disclosed a stake in COST stock as of Q3, down from 2,938 filers during the prior quarter. In total, these filers own 292.78 million shares of Costco, down by 0.37% from 293.87 million shares. 237 of these filers own COST in their top 10 positions, up from 198 filers.
Hedge funds, whose data is included in 13F metrics, reported ownership of 47.02 million shares, down by 3.37% from 48.66 million shares. 37 hedge funds own Costco in their top 10 positions, up from 29 funds.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at Costco’s top five institutional shareholders as of Q3:
- Vanguard: 39.87 million shares. Vanguard acquired 97,937 shares during Q3.
- BlackRock (NYSE:BLK): 30.01 million shares. BlackRock sold 532,042 shares during Q3.
- State Street (NYSE:STT): 18.45 million shares. State Street sold 649,729 shares during Q3.
- FMR: 9.03 million shares. FMR sold 48,018 shares during Q3.
- Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS): 8.73 million shares. Morgan Stanley sold 294,178 shares during Q3.
On the date of publication, Eddie Pan did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
