Ascent Wealth Partners LLC Grows Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Ascent Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 201.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,687 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,128 shares during the period. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,546,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. AMF Tjanstepension AB acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter valued at about $42,896,000. Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 6,495 shares during the period. Global Trust Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Global Trust Asset Management LLC now owns 2,725 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,416,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the period. DT Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,638 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,452,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the period. Finally, Woodard & Co. Asset Management Group Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. Woodard & Co. Asset Management Group Inc. ADV now owns 2,183 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,935,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on COST shares. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,000.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of 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. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note 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 stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,021.93.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

NASDAQ COST opened at $1,035.03 on Friday. 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 $459.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.78, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $975.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $931.39.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is 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.