Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC Increases Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,029 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 171 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for approximately 1.4% of Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $6,620,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 28,855 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $16,302,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 28.9% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 272,288 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $179,822,000 after acquiring an additional 61,122 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 21,514 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $14,201,000 after acquiring an additional 2,909 shares in the last quarter. Rice Partnership LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 21.0% in the 3rd quarter. Rice Partnership LLC now owns 11,741 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,633,000 after acquiring an additional 2,038 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 23.5% in the 4th quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC now owns 814 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $538,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Roth Mkm upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $601.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $795.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $694.48.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total transaction of $1,072,245.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,785,786.85. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total value of $1,043,258.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 12,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,967,534.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total transaction of $1,072,245.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,727 shares of company stock valued at $2,682,948 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $769.32 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $731.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $675.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $341.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.95 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $476.75 and a 52 week high of $787.08.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by $0.09. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.73% and a return on equity of 28.80%. The firm had revenue of $58.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.30 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th will be issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.60%. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.35%.

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.