AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Boosts Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 622.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 152,247 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 131,169 shares during the quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $139,499,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Collier Financial bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Barrett & Company Inc. raised its position 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 buying an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FSC Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $1,071.85 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $475.79 billion, a PE ratio of 62.94, a P/E/G ratio of 6.26 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. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $967.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $920.57. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $697.27 and a one year high of $1,078.23.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on COST. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,000.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $840.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $1,016.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,040.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Roth Mkm raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $755.00 to $907.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned 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 $1,021.93.

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.