Fiera Capital Corp Decreases Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Fiera Capital Corp lessened its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 7.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 72,818 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 5,789 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $66,721,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,487,057 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,380,648,000 after purchasing an additional 162,191 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 324,973 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 113,947.9% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 7,370,916 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,534,464,000 after acquiring an additional 7,364,453 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,399,127 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,013,394,000 after acquiring an additional 125,444 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,075,065 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,726,107,000 after acquiring an additional 70,561 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $1,076.86 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $697.27 and a 1-year high of $1,078.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market cap of $478.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.23, a P/E/G ratio of 6.26 and a beta of 0.84. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $966.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $919.48.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer reissued 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. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of 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. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,021.93.

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.