Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft Cuts Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 29.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,330 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 552 shares during the quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,219,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 113,947.9% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 7,370,916 shares of the retailer's stock worth $6,534,464,000 after buying an additional 7,364,453 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 55.7% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,068,772 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $979,284,000 after acquiring an additional 382,367 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 75,894.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 338,935 shares of the retailer's stock worth $300,473,000 after acquiring an additional 338,489 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,308,615 shares of the retailer's stock worth $8,252,274,000 after purchasing an additional 324,973 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,487,057 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $8,380,648,000 after purchasing an additional 162,191 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $880.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,145.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set an "outperform" rating and a $1,016.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and set a $1,075.00 target price (up from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Nine investment 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 an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,013.59.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ COST traded up $0.87 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $979.88. 1,872,586 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,738,140. The company has a market capitalization of $434.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.54, a P/E/G ratio of 5.75 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 business's 50 day moving average is $954.51 and its 200-day moving average is $907.45. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $691.50 and a 1 year high of $1,008.25.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.