Hartford Investment Management Co. Sells 530 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Hartford Investment Management Co. cut its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 27,388 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 530 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale makes up 0.8% of Hartford Investment Management Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $25,095,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in COST. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised 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 valued at $2,489,574,000 after buying an additional 32,074 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC increased 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 acquiring an additional 568 shares during the period. Nwam LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $20,056,000. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at $8,430,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,662 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,020,000 after purchasing an additional 1,001 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Roth Mkm increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $755.00 to $907.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Loop Capital increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,005.00 to $1,095.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $1,016.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,040.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,021.93.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.6 %

NASDAQ COST opened at $1,065.12 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $697.27 and a 52 week high of $1,067.00. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $964.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $918.45. The company has a market cap of $472.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.54, a P/E/G ratio of 6.26 and a beta of 0.84.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

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 paid 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 0.44%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.