National Pension Service Grows Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

National Pension Service raised its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 822,633 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,947 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale makes up approximately 0.7% of National Pension Service’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. National Pension Service owned 0.19% of Costco Wholesale worth $753,754,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 100,422.3% during 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 during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised 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 in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its stake 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 worth $300,473,000 after acquiring an additional 338,489 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,308,615 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,252,274,000 after purchasing an additional 324,973 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $157,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on COST shares. Citigroup increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective 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. Loop Capital boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,005.00 to $1,095.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,021.93.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST stock opened at $1,055.66 on Wednesday. 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 $1,078.23. The company has a market cap of $468.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.84. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $977.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $935.03.

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 given a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 27.25%.

Costco Wholesale Company 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.