Meritage Portfolio Management Sells 165 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Meritage Portfolio Management trimmed its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,924 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 165 shares during the period. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $8,177,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in COST. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 113,947.9% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 7,370,916 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,534,464,000 after acquiring an additional 7,364,453 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 55.7% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,068,772 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $979,284,000 after buying an additional 382,367 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 75,894.4% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 338,935 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $300,473,000 after buying an additional 338,489 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,308,615 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,252,274,000 after buying an additional 324,973 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,487,057 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,380,648,000 after buying an additional 162,191 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST stock opened at $1,050.99 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $958.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $911.67. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $697.27 and a 12 month high of $1,063.00. The firm has a market cap of $466.53 billion, a PE ratio of 61.71, a P/E/G ratio of 5.84 and a beta of 0.84.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,000.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $1,065.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus 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.