Everest Management Corp. Invests $378,000 in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Everest Management Corp. bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 413 shares of the retailer's stock, valued at approximately $378,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in COST. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,334 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,222,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 68.5% during the fourth quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 3,841 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $3,519,000 after acquiring an additional 1,561 shares in the last quarter. Stenger Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,903,000. Acorns Advisers LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. Acorns Advisers LLC now owns 1,075 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $985,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. Finally, Finward Bancorp bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at $1,215,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on COST. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Loop Capital dropped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,045.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,024.03.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total transaction of $830,304.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,987 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. The trade was a 11.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total transaction of $3,351,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $38,242,687. The trade was a 8.06 % 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. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 2.8 %

Shares of COST traded up $26.75 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $994.50. The company had a trading volume of 2,705,128 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,016,146. The firm has a market cap of $441.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.40, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.95. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $706.17 and a 52-week high of $1,078.24. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $975.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $952.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. The company had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.02 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be given a $1.30 dividend. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio is presently 27.09%.

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.