Pacer Advisors Inc. Sells 8,951 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Pacer Advisors Inc. trimmed its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 13.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 57,952 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 8,951 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $53,100,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.7% in 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 acquiring an additional 162,191 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 3.6% in 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 last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 113,947.9% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 7,370,916 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,534,464,000 after purchasing an additional 7,364,453 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,399,127 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,013,394,000 after purchasing an additional 125,444 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,075,065 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,726,107,000 after purchasing an additional 70,561 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays increased their price target 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. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $909.00 to $935.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Loop Capital upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,005.00 to $1,095.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target 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. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,013.59.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ COST opened at $965.25 on Tuesday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $686.26 and a 52-week high of $1,008.25. The company has a fifty day moving average of $951.57 and a 200-day moving average of $903.97. The company has a market capitalization of $428.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.68, a P/E/G ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 0.84. 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 company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.