Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Acquired by Tufton Capital Management

Tufton Capital Management grew its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,604 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 27 shares during the quarter. Tufton Capital Management’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,386,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of COST. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,487,057 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,380,648,000 after purchasing an additional 162,191 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,308,615 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,252,274,000 after buying an additional 324,973 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,399,127 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,013,394,000 after buying an additional 125,444 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,075,065 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,726,107,000 after buying an additional 70,561 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,034,491 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,690,138,000 after buying an additional 78,590 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted 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. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,000.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Roth Mkm boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $755.00 to $907.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to 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

COST stock opened at $1,021.71 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $697.27 and a 1 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’s 50 day moving average price is $980.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $936.31. The firm has a market cap of $453.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.99, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.84.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

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