Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Bought by Avestar Capital LLC

Avestar Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 10.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,601 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 448 shares during the period. Avestar Capital LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $4,216,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. AMF Tjanstepension AB acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the third quarter valued at approximately $42,896,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $213,000. Creative Planning grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 224,169 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $194,245,000 after acquiring an additional 11,678 shares during the period. Swedbank AB raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 443,747 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $393,391,000 after acquiring an additional 6,495 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co now owns 7,728 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,851,000 after purchasing an additional 316 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on COST. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price 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, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,021.93.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $1,076.86 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $697.27 and a 12-month high of $1,078.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The company has a market capitalization of $478.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 63.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.26 and a beta of 0.84. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $966.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $919.48.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio 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.