Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Acquired by Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 5.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 184,099 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,253 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for approximately 0.5% of Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $168,684,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of COST. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,808,255 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,489,574,000 after acquiring an additional 32,074 shares during the period. Nwam LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $20,056,000. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth approximately $8,430,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,662 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,020,000 after buying an additional 1,001 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $984,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,075.00 price target (up previously from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $840.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,029.00.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST stock opened at $964.31 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $428.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $697.27 and a 52-week high of $1,078.24. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $989.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $943.88.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.09 by ($0.07). Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. The business had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.02 billion. Equities research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.09%.

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.