Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. Decreases Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. trimmed its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,224 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 439 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for about 2.3% of Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest position. Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $9,368,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in COST. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,808,255 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,489,574,000 after acquiring an additional 32,074 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 8,046 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,133,000 after purchasing an additional 568 shares during the last quarter. Nwam LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 3rd quarter valued at about $20,056,000. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at about $8,430,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,662 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,020,000 after purchasing an additional 1,001 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on COST. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, February 14th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $909.00 to $935.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,075.00 target price (up from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Loop Capital increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,005.00 to $1,095.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,021.93.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.1 %

COST stock opened at $1,035.60 on Tuesday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $697.27 and a twelve month high of $1,078.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The firm has a market cap of $459.70 billion, a PE ratio of 60.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.84. The business has a 50 day moving average of $976.47 and a 200 day moving average of $933.62.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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.