Moors & Cabot Inc. Boosts Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 9.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,223 shares of the retailer's stock after buying an additional 1,021 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc.'s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $11,199,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake 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 worth $8,380,648,000 after acquiring an additional 162,191 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 3.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,308,615 shares of the retailer's stock worth $8,252,274,000 after acquiring an additional 324,973 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 3.8% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,399,127 shares of the retailer's stock worth $3,013,394,000 after acquiring an additional 125,444 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,077,905 shares of the retailer's stock worth $2,820,193,000 after acquiring an additional 43,414 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 2.3% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,075,065 shares of the retailer's stock worth $2,726,107,000 after acquiring an additional 70,561 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Loop Capital cut their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,135.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Barclays upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,030.43.

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Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST opened at $930.49 on Wednesday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $697.27 and a 12 month high of $1,078.24. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $990.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $944.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The firm has a market cap of $413.04 billion, a PE ratio of 54.64, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.81.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $4.09 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. Equities research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.09%.

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.

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