Grange Capital LLC Acquires New Shares in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Grange Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 514 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $471,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 113,947.9% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 7,370,916 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,534,464,000 after purchasing an additional 7,364,453 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 55.7% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,068,772 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $979,284,000 after purchasing an additional 382,367 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 75,894.4% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 338,935 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $300,473,000 after purchasing an additional 338,489 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 3.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,308,615 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,252,274,000 after purchasing an additional 324,973 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.7% during the third 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 period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.3 %

COST stock opened at $939.68 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $951.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $903.84. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $675.96 and a 12 month high of $1,008.25. The company has a market cap of $417.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 0.84. 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 Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on COST. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $840.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $880.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,013.59.

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.