Ceera Investments LLC Reduces Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Ceera Investments LLC cut its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 6,193 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 15 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale comprises 1.9% of Ceera Investments LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Ceera Investments LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $5,674,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Sowell Financial Services LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 19.5% during the 4th quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC now owns 21,150 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $19,379,000 after purchasing an additional 3,445 shares during the period. M. Kulyk & Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. M. Kulyk & Associates LLC now owns 259 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $237,000 after buying an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Miramar Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Miramar Capital LLC now owns 525 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $481,000 after buying an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Argentarii LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth about $3,998,000. Finally, Garrison Bradford & Associates Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Garrison Bradford & Associates Inc. now owns 12,087 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $11,075,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on COST. Raymond James lifted 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. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,075.00 price objective (up previously from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,029.00.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $964.31 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $989.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $943.44. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $697.27 and a 1 year high of $1,078.24. The company has a market capitalization of $428.06 billion, a PE ratio of 56.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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). Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. The firm had revenue of $63.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.02 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.