Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) is Meeder Asset Management Inc.'s 9th Largest Position

Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 419.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 47,480 shares of the retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 38,335 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises about 3.0% of Meeder Asset Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Meeder Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $43,504,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in COST. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,201,610 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $38,668,069,000 after purchasing an additional 455,043 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.7% during the third 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. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at $5,182,316,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,077,905 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $2,820,193,000 after acquiring an additional 43,414 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,899,904 shares of the retailer's stock worth $2,657,095,000 after acquiring an additional 91,649 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,029.00.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total value of $3,351,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at $38,242,687. This trade represents a 8.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total value of $1,034,011.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,165 shares of the company's stock, 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 5,600 shares of company stock valued at $5,215,915. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 1.3 %

NASDAQ COST traded up $12.74 during trading on Thursday, hitting $977.82. The stock had a trading volume of 1,619,538 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,944,225. The company has a market capitalization of $433.84 billion, a PE ratio of 57.42, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $697.27 and a twelve month high of $1,078.24. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $988.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $947.48.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.09 by ($0.07). Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. The business had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $63.02 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio is presently 27.09%.

Costco Wholesale Company 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.