Sabal Trust CO Has $514,000 Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Sabal Trust CO lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 53.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 561 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the period. Sabal Trust CO’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $514,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 during the period. Hudson Value Partners LLC lifted 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 acquiring an additional 568 shares during the period. Nwam LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 3rd quarter valued at $20,056,000. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at $8,430,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted 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 acquiring an additional 1,001 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on COST. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $990.00 to $1,030.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,000.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Loop Capital boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,005.00 to $1,095.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,021.93.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST opened at $1,031.97 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $458.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.60, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.84. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $697.27 and a fifty-two week 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $979.28 and a 200 day moving average of $935.71.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.