Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by Braun Stacey Associates Inc.

Braun Stacey Associates Inc. reduced its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 7.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 24,712 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,943 shares during the quarter. Braun Stacey Associates Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $22,643,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Collier Financial acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Barrett & Company Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 59.3% during the fourth quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. now owns 43 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FSC Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on COST shares. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,000.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. 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 research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $940.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $1,016.00 target price for the company. Nine investment 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 has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,021.93.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $1,056.03 on Wednesday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $697.27 and a 12-month high of $1,078.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $468.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.01, a PEG ratio of 6.26 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. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $972.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $927.29.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors 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 yield of 0.44%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio 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.