Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by Sigma Planning Corp

Sigma Planning Corp cut its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 17,111 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 124 shares during the period. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $15,679,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of COST. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 valued at $6,534,464,000 after acquiring an additional 7,364,453 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 100,422.3% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 796,137 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $729,476,000 after acquiring an additional 795,345 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 55.7% in the fourth 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 lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 75,894.4% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 338,935 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $300,473,000 after acquiring an additional 338,489 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 3.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,308,615 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,252,274,000 after acquiring an additional 324,973 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the subject of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. 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 report on Friday, December 13th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,000.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,075.00 target price (up from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,021.93.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.0 %

NASDAQ:COST opened at $1,035.03 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $975.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $930.59. The company has a market capitalization of $459.45 billion, a PE ratio of 60.78, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $697.27 and a 52-week high of $1,078.23.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.