Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by S.A. Mason LLC

S.A. Mason LLC reduced its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,082 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 34 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale comprises approximately 2.4% of S.A. Mason LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. S.A. Mason LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $4,656,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the third quarter valued at about $42,896,000. Czech National Bank lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 90,312 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $80,063,000 after acquiring an additional 5,799 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 24.2% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,661 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,905,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 7,631 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,765,000 after purchasing an additional 403 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Everpar Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC now owns 539 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $478,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on COST. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays upped 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 note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $880.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,013.59.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

NASDAQ:COST opened at $1,005.83 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $954.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $908.28. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $697.27 and a one year high of $1,009.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market cap of $446.49 billion, a PE ratio of 59.06, a P/E/G ratio of 5.84 and a beta of 0.84.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.