Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Bought by KBC Group NV

KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 47.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 130,110 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 41,904 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $119,215,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $8,776,000. Apexium Financial LP boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Apexium Financial LP now owns 773 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $708,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,324 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,963,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 46.9% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 9,932 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,805,000 after purchasing an additional 3,173 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cathy Pareto & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $380,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 2.7 %

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $965.25 on Tuesday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $686.26 and a 12-month high of $1,008.25. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $951.57 and its 200-day moving average is $903.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $428.47 billion, a PE ratio of 56.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 0.84. 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 Dividend Announcement

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 $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $1,075.00 target price (up from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $1,016.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,013.59.

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.