Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC Raises Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,288 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,097,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of COST. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.2% in 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 purchasing an additional 32,074 shares in the last quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 62.8% during the third quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 2,417 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,143,000 after buying an additional 932 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.6% in the third quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 8,046 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,133,000 after buying an additional 568 shares in the last quarter. Nwam LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the third quarter worth $20,056,000. Finally, CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at $8,430,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,019.00 to $1,020.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $1,065.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, October 17th. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $880.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,013.59.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of COST stock opened at $964.02 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $953.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $905.62. 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 Co. has a one year low of $690.80 and a one year high of $1,008.25. The company has a market capitalization of $427.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.61, a P/E/G ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 0.84.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.48%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 27.25%.

Costco Wholesale Company 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.