Meyer Handelman Co. Increases Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Meyer Handelman Co. boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 328.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,713 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,313 shares during the quarter. Meyer Handelman Co.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,255,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 3rd quarter valued at about $208,000. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 49.7% during the 3rd quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 2,819 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,593,000 after buying an additional 936 shares in the last quarter. River Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. River Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,012 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,832,000 after buying an additional 395 shares in the last quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 5,001 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,825,000 after buying an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Personal CFO Solutions LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 989 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $559,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 1.6 %

NASDAQ COST opened at $848.31 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $376.08 billion, a PE ratio of 52.56, a P/E/G ratio of 5.70 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a fifty day moving average of $788.13 and a 200 day moving average of $731.70. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $519.34 and a 1 year high of $873.96. 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 (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.16 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 30.02%. The company’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.43 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th were given a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is 28.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on COST. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $700.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $710.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $777.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Roth Mkm reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $676.00 price objective (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $752.96.

Costco Wholesale 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.