Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Short Interest Down 7.4% in January

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) was the target of a large drop in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,890,000 shares, a drop of 7.4% from the January 15th total of 6,360,000 shares. Currently, 1.3% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 2,020,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.9 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 113,947.9% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 7,370,916 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,534,464,000 after purchasing an additional 7,364,453 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth $5,182,316,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 74,796.3% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,521,893 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,394,465,000 after purchasing an additional 1,519,861 shares in the last quarter. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth $95,452,000. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 100,422.3% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 796,137 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $729,476,000 after purchasing an additional 795,345 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the topic of several recent research reports. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,075.00 price target (up from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $940.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,000.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,021.93.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $1,056.03 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $972.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $927.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $468.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.01, a PEG ratio of 6.37 and a beta of 0.84. Costco Wholesale has a 12-month low of $697.27 and a 12-month high of $1,078.23. 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 Announces Dividend

The business 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. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 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.