Forsta AP Fonden Boosts Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Forsta AP Fonden increased its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 6.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 123,700 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 7,800 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises 0.8% of Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest position. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $113,343,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in COST. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 113,947.9% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 7,370,916 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,534,464,000 after buying an additional 7,364,453 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 55.7% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,068,772 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $979,284,000 after purchasing an additional 382,367 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 75,894.4% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 338,935 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $300,473,000 after purchasing an additional 338,489 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,308,615 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,252,274,000 after purchasing an additional 324,973 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of 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. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $979.01 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $691.50 and a 1 year high of $1,008.25. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $953.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $906.03. The company has a market cap of $434.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.49, a PEG ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 27.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COST has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Tigress Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $1,065.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,075.00 price target (up previously from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $909.00 to $935.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $880.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,013.59.

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.