D Orazio & Associates Inc. Purchases 51 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

D Orazio & Associates Inc. grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,491 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,366,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. AMF Tjanstepension AB bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter valued at $42,896,000. Fermata Advisors LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 1,968 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,745,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the period. Nvest Financial LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. Nvest Financial LLC now owns 2,527 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,240,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the period. Walker Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. Walker Financial Services Inc. now owns 306 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $271,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Iowa State Bank lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. Iowa State Bank now owns 2,110 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,871,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ:COST opened at $1,043.81 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $961.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $914.00. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $697.27 and a 52-week high of $1,063.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $463.35 billion, a PE ratio of 61.29, a P/E/G ratio of 6.26 and a beta of 0.84.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 27.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COST has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $840.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Roth Mkm increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $755.00 to $907.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,021.93.

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.