D.A. Davidson & CO. Reduces Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

D.A. Davidson & CO. decreased its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 153,417 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 609 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale makes up about 1.1% of D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $140,572,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Collier Financial purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Barrett & Company Inc. raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 59.3% in the fourth quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. now owns 43 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FSC Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on COST shares. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $940.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $990.00 to $1,030.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,021.93.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $1,071.85 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $475.79 billion, a PE ratio of 62.94, a P/E/G ratio of 6.26 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $969.49 and a 200-day moving average of $923.85. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $697.27 and a 52-week high of $1,078.23.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.