Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Stake Lessened by Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd.

Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. reduced its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 10,224 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 439 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale accounts for approximately 2.3% of Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $9,368,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted 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 in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted 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 in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 75,894.4% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 338,935 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $300,473,000 after purchasing an additional 338,489 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at $157,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.1 %

COST opened at $1,035.60 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $459.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.81, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.84. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $976.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $933.62. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $697.27 and a one year high of $1,078.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 27.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective 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 boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $755.00 to $907.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,000.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,021.93.

Costco Wholesale Company Profile

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.