Van ECK Associates Corp Sells 1,662 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Van ECK Associates Corp decreased its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 121,630 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,662 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $111,446,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,808,255 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,489,574,000 after purchasing an additional 32,074 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 8,046 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,133,000 after purchasing an additional 568 shares during the last quarter. Nwam LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 3rd quarter valued at $20,056,000. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at $8,430,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on COST. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $840.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $1,075.00 price target (up previously from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,021.93.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 1.1 %

NASDAQ:COST opened at $1,076.86 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $478.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.23, 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. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $697.27 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.24. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $966.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $919.48.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 currently 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.