Private Trust Co. NA Sells 860 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Private Trust Co. NA decreased its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 14.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,209 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 860 shares during the quarter. Private Trust Co. NA’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $4,772,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings 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 valued at $8,380,648,000 after purchasing an additional 162,191 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,308,615 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,252,274,000 after acquiring an additional 324,973 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings 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 in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 2.3% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,075,065 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,726,107,000 after purchasing an additional 70,561 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.7% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,034,491 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,690,138,000 after purchasing an additional 78,590 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on COST shares. UBS Group boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $840.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,000.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,021.93.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of COST stock opened at $1,021.71 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $980.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $936.31. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $697.27 and a 1-year high of $1,078.23. The company has a market cap of $453.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.99, a PEG ratio of 6.15 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 Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $1.16 dividend. 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 (DPR) 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.