Aspen Investment Management Inc Grows Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Aspen Investment Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 89.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 746 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 353 shares during the period. Aspen Investment Management Inc’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $684,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in COST. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position 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 buying an additional 7,364,453 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 100,422.3% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 796,137 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $729,476,000 after acquiring an additional 795,345 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 55.7% in 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 holdings 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 worth $300,473,000 after acquiring an additional 338,489 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 3.6% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST stock opened at $1,034.22 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $459.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.32 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $974.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $928.97. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $697.27 and a one year high of $1,078.23. 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 announced 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. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on COST. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,075.00 target price (up previously from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price 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, February 6th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective 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. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,021.93.

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.