Round Rock Advisors LLC Buys 91 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Round Rock Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 21.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 523 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the quarter. Round Rock Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $479,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.2% in 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 buying an additional 32,074 shares in the last quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 62.8% in the 3rd quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 2,417 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,143,000 after buying an additional 932 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 8,046 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,133,000 after buying an additional 568 shares in the last quarter. Nwam LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter worth about $20,056,000. Finally, CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth about $8,430,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ:COST opened at $1,005.83 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $697.27 and a 1 year high of $1,009.61. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $954.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $908.28. The company has a market cap of $446.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.06, a PEG ratio of 5.84 and a beta of 0.84.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 27.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on COST shares. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,075.00 price objective (up from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Citigroup raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,013.59.

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.