PFW Advisors LLC Makes New $2.06 Million Investment in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

PFW Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 2,245 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $2,057,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in COST. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,487,057 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,380,648,000 after purchasing an additional 162,191 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,308,615 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,252,274,000 after buying an additional 324,973 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $6,534,464,000 after buying an additional 7,364,453 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,650,562 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,102,941,000 after buying an additional 88,550 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,399,127 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,013,394,000 after acquiring an additional 125,444 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on COST shares. Tigress Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $1,065.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $1,075.00 price objective (up previously from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Raymond James boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $990.00 to $1,030.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Roth Mkm raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $755.00 to $907.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,013.59.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 1.3 %

NASDAQ:COST opened at $924.70 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $410.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.30, a PEG ratio of 6.02 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $948.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $899.73. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $675.96 and a 1 year high of $1,008.25.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 27.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total transaction of $1,266,866.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 27,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,514,232. This represents a 4.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Company 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.