Meixler Investment Management Ltd. Trims Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Meixler Investment Management Ltd. lessened its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 5.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 341 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 20 shares during the quarter. Meixler Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $313,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 301.3% in the 4th quarter. Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,284 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,176,000 after purchasing an additional 964 shares during the last quarter. MN Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. MN Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 703 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $645,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 33.6% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 1,058 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $969,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 65.2% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 52,703 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $49,788,000 after purchasing an additional 20,794 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 15.8% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 9,262 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,487,000 after purchasing an additional 1,263 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on COST. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $940.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $990.00 to $1,030.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,021.93.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST opened at $1,071.85 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98. The company has a 50-day moving average of $969.49 and a 200-day moving average of $923.13. The company has a market capitalization of $475.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.94, a PEG ratio of 6.26 and a beta of 0.84. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $697.27 and a 1-year high of $1,078.23.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.25%.

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.