Elm3 Financial Group LLC Invests $779,000 in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Elm3 Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 850 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $779,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,808,255 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,489,574,000 after buying an additional 32,074 shares during the period. Hudson Value Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.6% in the third quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 8,046 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,133,000 after acquiring an additional 568 shares in the last quarter. Nwam LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the third quarter worth about $20,056,000. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp bought a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth about $8,430,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,662 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,020,000 after purchasing an additional 1,001 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on COST. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $1,016.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $840.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,040.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Barclays increased their price target 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. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,021.93.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

NASDAQ:COST opened at $1,050.99 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $958.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $911.67. The firm has a market cap of $466.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.71, a PEG ratio of 5.84 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $697.27 and a one year high of $1,063.00.

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 paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 27.25%.

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.