Kentucky Trust Co Makes New $82,000 Investment in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Kentucky Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 90 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $82,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the third 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 last quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 7.6% during the third quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 8,046 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,133,000 after buying an additional 568 shares during the last quarter. Nwam LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the third quarter worth about $20,056,000. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth about $8,430,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,662 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $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

A number of research firms have recently commented on COST. Citigroup raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $1,065.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,000.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Raymond James raised their price target 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, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. 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, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,021.93.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.6 %

NASDAQ:COST opened at $1,065.12 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $472.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.26 and a beta of 0.84. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $697.27 and a twelve month high of $1,067.00. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $964.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $918.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.25%.

About Costco Wholesale

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.