Avantra Family Wealth Inc. Invests $793,000 in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Avantra Family Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 865 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $793,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 113,947.9% in 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 in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased 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 purchasing an additional 382,367 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 75,894.4% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 338,935 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $300,473,000 after purchasing an additional 338,489 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.6% during the third 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. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,487,057 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,380,648,000 after buying an additional 162,191 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on COST. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,075.00 target price (up previously from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $940.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group lifted their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on 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, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,013.59.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of COST opened at $979.88 on Monday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $691.50 and a 12-month high of $1,008.25. 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 market capitalization of $434.97 billion, a PE ratio of 57.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 0.84. The business’s 50 day moving average is $954.51 and its 200 day moving average is $907.85.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.