Sawgrass Asset Management LLC Lowers Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Sawgrass Asset Management LLC cut its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 5.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,082 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 637 shares during the quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $9,238,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. PrairieView Partners LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. PrairieView Partners LLC now owns 997 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $913,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. Hemington Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 1,098 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,006,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Park Capital Management LLC WI purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at about $224,000. Ingalls & Snyder LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 14.9% during the fourth quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC now owns 1,963 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,799,000 after buying an additional 254 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Consolidated Planning Corp lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 17.1% during the fourth quarter. Consolidated Planning Corp now owns 8,768 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,034,000 after buying an additional 1,280 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the subject of several analyst reports. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Truist Financial increased their price target 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. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,040.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $990.00 to $1,030.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,021.93.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $1,076.86 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $478.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 63.23, a PEG ratio of 6.26 and a beta of 0.84. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $697.27 and a 12 month high of $1,078.24. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $966.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $919.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 27.25%.

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.