Candriam S.C.A. Raises Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Candriam S.C.A. grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 6.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 58,453 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,767 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $53,559,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 74,796.3% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,521,893 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,394,465,000 after purchasing an additional 1,519,861 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 100,422.3% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 796,137 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $729,476,000 after purchasing an additional 795,345 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 55.7% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,068,772 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $979,284,000 after purchasing an additional 382,367 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 3.6% during the 3rd 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, Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at $157,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on COST shares. Evercore ISI reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, February 14th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $940.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Roth Mkm raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $755.00 to $907.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,021.93.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 1.0 %

COST stock opened at $1,047.75 on Thursday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $697.27 and a 52 week high of $1,078.24. The company has a market capitalization of $465.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.84. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $987.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $941.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.