Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Purchased by Empower Advisory Group LLC

Empower Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 176,765 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,124 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $161,964,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,808,255 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,489,574,000 after purchasing an additional 32,074 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 8,046 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,133,000 after purchasing an additional 568 shares in the last quarter. Nwam LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the third quarter worth approximately $20,056,000. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $8,430,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 15.0% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,662 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,020,000 after acquiring an additional 1,001 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on COST. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,000.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $909.00 to $935.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $940.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,021.93.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST stock opened at $1,071.85 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $475.79 billion, a PE ratio of 62.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.26 and a beta of 0.84. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $697.27 and a 12-month high of $1,078.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $969.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $923.85.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.25%.

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.