Meridian Wealth Partners LLC Buys 35 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Meridian Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 8.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 432 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Meridian Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $367,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,833,870 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $29,916,118,000 after acquiring an additional 473,702 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 8.1% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,824,778 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,802,147,000 after buying an additional 285,533 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,790,935 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,842,241,000 after buying an additional 81,853 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 28.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,538,078 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,307,363,000 after buying an additional 338,780 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 99,208.6% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,474,733 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,253,508,000 after buying an additional 1,473,248 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $910.00 to $915.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $815.00 to $873.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $805.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $775.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $955.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $844.52.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total transaction of $1,266,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,492 shares in the company, valued at $10,545,746.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total transaction of $1,266,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,492 shares in the company, valued at $10,545,746.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total transaction of $298,035.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,920 shares in the company, valued at $5,041,057.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 4,974 shares of company stock valued at $4,252,856. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $897.27 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $397.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.56 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.45. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $540.23 and a 1 year high of $923.83. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $862.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $808.65.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 26th were given a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 26th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 28.75%.

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.