Kozak & Associates Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Kozak & Associates Inc. grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 19,936 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 550 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale accounts for about 4.2% of Kozak & Associates Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Kozak & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $18,273,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 32,074 shares during the last quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 62.8% in the 3rd quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 2,417 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,143,000 after purchasing an additional 932 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 568 shares during the last quarter. Nwam LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the third quarter worth about $20,056,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,662 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,020,000 after buying an additional 1,001 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $1,065.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,019.00 to $1,020.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Raymond James boosted 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. Barclays raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $940.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Citigroup raised 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. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,013.59.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $896.71, for a total value of $1,793,420.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,155,409.10. The trade was a 16.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $891.15, for a total transaction of $3,921,060.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,202 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,091,512.30. This represents a 30.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 7,816 shares of company stock valued at $6,981,347. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.4 %

COST traded up $3.89 on Monday, hitting $920.47. 1,094,985 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,480,845. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.97. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $943.38 and its 200-day moving average is $896.64. The company has a market cap of $408.60 billion, a PE ratio of 54.05, a PEG ratio of 6.02 and a beta of 0.84. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $654.03 and a 12 month high of $1,008.25.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st were paid a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.