WESPAC Advisors LLC Trims Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

WESPAC Advisors LLC cut its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,933 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 20 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale makes up 1.3% of WESPAC Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. WESPAC Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,771,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 100,422.3% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 796,137 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $729,476,000 after buying an additional 795,345 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 55.7% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,068,772 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $979,284,000 after acquiring an additional 382,367 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 75,894.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 338,935 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $300,473,000 after purchasing an additional 338,489 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,308,615 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,252,274,000 after purchasing an additional 324,973 shares during the period. Finally, Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $157,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Roth Mkm lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $755.00 to $907.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $940.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $840.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,000.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,021.93.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $1,035.03 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $697.27 and a one year high of $1,078.23. The stock has a market cap of $459.45 billion, a PE ratio of 60.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.84. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $975.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $931.39. 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.25%.

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.