Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co Sells 602 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co reduced its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 5.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,883 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 602 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $9,972,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in COST. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 250.0% during the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Collier Financial bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Barrett & Company Inc. grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 59.3% in the fourth quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. now owns 43 shares of the retailer's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on COST. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, April 11th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $975.00 price target for the company. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,024.03.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

NASDAQ:COST traded up $9.26 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $1,008.30. 1,547,172 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,033,356. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $961.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $959.44. 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 has a market cap of $447.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.95. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $746.48 and a 1 year high of $1,078.24.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.09 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $63.72 billion during 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 2nd. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total transaction of $3,924,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,161,193.58. This represents a 8.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total transaction of $1,034,011.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 11,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,495,211.65. This represents a 8.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 9,600 shares of company stock valued at $9,140,195. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

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.