Quent Capital LLC Raises Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Quent Capital LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 7.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,618 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,399,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position 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 worth $6,534,464,000 after purchasing an additional 7,364,453 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its stake 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 during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 55.7% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,068,772 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $979,284,000 after purchasing an additional 382,367 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 338,489 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 3.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,308,615 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,252,274,000 after buying an additional 324,973 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on COST. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $1,016.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target 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. BMO Capital Markets upped 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. Finally, Loop Capital lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,005.00 to $1,095.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,021.93.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ:COST opened at $1,058.34 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The company has a market cap of $469.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.15, a PEG ratio of 6.26 and a beta of 0.84. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $697.27 and a 1 year high of $1,066.00. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $963.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $916.76.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors 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 is Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 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.