Chung Wu Investment Group LLC Acquires New Shares in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Chung Wu Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 350 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $321,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 250.0% during the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Collier Financial bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on COST shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” 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. Finally, Raymond James lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $990.00 to $1,030.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,021.93.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $1,047.75 on Thursday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $697.27 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.24. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $987.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $941.75. The company has a market capitalization of $465.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.52, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.84. 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 Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 0.44%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.