Veridan Wealth LLC Acquires New Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Veridan Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 374 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $376,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Waterway Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth $226,000. First American Bank increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 93.7% in the 4th quarter. First American Bank now owns 581 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $532,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares in the last quarter. Gordian Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Gordian Advisors LLC now owns 454 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $416,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Hosking Partners LLP increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Hosking Partners LLP now owns 81,069 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $74,281,000 after purchasing an additional 1,437 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,139 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,960,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,075.00 price objective (up previously from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $755.00 to $907.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,000.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,021.93.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ COST opened at $1,021.71 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $453.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.99, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.84. 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $980.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $936.31. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $697.27 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.23.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.25%.

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.