Fruth Investment Management Cuts Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Fruth Investment Management decreased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,180 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 35 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale comprises 1.3% of Fruth Investment Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Fruth Investment Management’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $4,746,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,808,255 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,489,574,000 after purchasing an additional 32,074 shares during the period. Hudson Value Partners LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 7.6% during the third quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 8,046 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,133,000 after purchasing an additional 568 shares during the period. Nwam LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale during the third quarter valued at approximately $20,056,000. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp bought a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $8,430,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,662 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,020,000 after purchasing an additional 1,001 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective 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. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,040.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased 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 report on Thursday, December 5th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,021.93.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

COST opened at $1,050.99 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $466.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.71, a PEG ratio of 5.84 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a fifty day moving average of $958.04 and a 200 day moving average of $911.67. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $697.27 and a fifty-two week high of $1,063.00. 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 firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is 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.