Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co Purchases 614 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co raised its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 11,843 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 614 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $10,066,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of COST. Gilbert & Cook Inc. lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 57.3% in the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 626 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $413,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 14.5% in the 4th quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,065 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $703,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 62.6% in the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 3,309 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,184,000 after acquiring an additional 1,274 shares in the last quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 15.5% in the 4th quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC now owns 2,475 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,633,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Associated Banc Corp raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Associated Banc Corp now owns 1,577 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,041,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

COST opened at $897.27 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $397.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.56 and a beta of 0.80. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $540.23 and a 52-week high of $923.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.94. The business’s fifty day moving average is $862.32 and its 200-day moving average is $808.65.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 26th were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 26th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.75%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total transaction of $543,430.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,775 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,320,787.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total transaction of $543,430.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,775 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,320,787.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total value of $1,266,300.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,492 shares in the company, valued at $10,545,746.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 4,974 shares of company stock valued at $4,252,856. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on COST shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $855.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $874.00 to $962.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Argus upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $805.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $775.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $844.52.

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.