SLT Holdings LLC Invests $461,000 in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

SLT Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 503 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $461,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in COST. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,808,255 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,489,574,000 after purchasing an additional 32,074 shares in the last quarter. Nwam LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the third quarter worth approximately $20,056,000. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $8,430,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,662 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,020,000 after purchasing an additional 1,001 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $984,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $1,075.00 target price (up previously from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Roth Mkm upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $755.00 to $907.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Ten 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, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,029.00.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 6.1 %

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $964.31 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $989.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $943.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $697.27 and a 12 month high of $1,078.24. The stock has a market cap of $428.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.62, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.09 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.09%.

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.