Provident Trust Co. Has $747.07 Million Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Provident Trust Co. cut its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 815,340 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 22,789 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for 12.9% of Provident Trust Co.’s holdings, making the stock its largest position. Provident Trust Co. owned 0.18% of Costco Wholesale worth $747,072,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,808,255 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,489,574,000 after acquiring an additional 32,074 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.6% during the third quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 8,046 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,133,000 after purchasing an additional 568 shares during the last quarter. Nwam LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the third quarter valued at approximately $20,056,000. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $8,430,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,662 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,020,000 after buying an additional 1,001 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on COST. Raymond James raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $990.00 to $1,030.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,040.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,000.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $909.00 to $935.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Nine investment 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.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,021.93.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST stock opened at $1,071.85 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The business has a fifty day moving average of $969.49 and a 200 day moving average of $923.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $475.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.26 and a beta of 0.84. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $697.27 and a 1 year high of $1,078.23.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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%.

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.