Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. Sells 12 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. lessened its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 51,694 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 12 shares during the quarter. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $47,365,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,808,255 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,489,574,000 after acquiring an additional 32,074 shares during the period. Nwam LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the third quarter valued at about $20,056,000. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $8,430,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 15.0% during the fourth 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. Finally, Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth about $984,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on COST. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $755.00 to $907.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,030.43.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $927.08 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $411.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.81. 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $697.27 and a 1-year high of $1,078.24. The business’s 50 day moving average is $990.44 and its 200-day moving average is $944.52.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.09 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $63.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. Equities research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.09%.

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.