Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Grows Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 32.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 68,976 shares of the retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 16,967 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $63,200,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Summit X LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 32.0% during the fourth quarter. Summit X LLC now owns 619 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $567,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 12,223 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $11,199,000 after buying an additional 1,021 shares in the last quarter. Bender Robert & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Bender Robert & Associates now owns 1,482 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,358,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Prosperity Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Prosperity Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,260 shares of the retailer's stock worth $2,987,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natural Investments LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at $2,818,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on COST shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $840.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,030.43.

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Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $930.49 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $990.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $944.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $413.04 billion, a PE ratio of 54.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $697.27 and a 12 month high of $1,078.24.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. Equities analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

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

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.

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