Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Purchased by Blue Trust Inc.

Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 6,893 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $6,316,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. now owns 2,982 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,878,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 622.3% in the fourth quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 152,247 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $139,499,000 after purchasing an additional 131,169 shares during the period. Kanawha Capital Management LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC now owns 16,648 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $15,254,000 after purchasing an additional 604 shares during the period. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $6,865,000. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 37.1% in the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 1,657 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,518,000 after purchasing an additional 448 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.5 %

NASDAQ:COST opened at $1,071.85 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $475.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.26 and a beta of 0.84. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $697.27 and a one year high of $1,078.23. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $967.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $920.57. 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 Announces Dividend

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. 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 payout ratio is currently 27.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Barclays raised their price objective 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. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on 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. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the stock a “buy” 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,021.93.

Costco Wholesale 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.