Center for Financial Planning Inc. Purchases 17 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Center for Financial Planning Inc. increased its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 5.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 328 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $301,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of COST. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,808,255 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,489,574,000 after acquiring an additional 32,074 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 568 shares in the last quarter. Nwam LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 3rd quarter valued at $20,056,000. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at $8,430,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 1,001 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COST has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective 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. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Barclays raised their price objective 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. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,021.93.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $1,071.85 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $969.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $922.35. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $697.27 and a one year high of $1,078.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $475.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.94, a PEG ratio of 6.26 and a beta of 0.84.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 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.