Evergreen Capital Management LLC Reduces Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Evergreen Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 10.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,910 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 2,387 shares during the period. Evergreen Capital Management LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $18,243,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,182,316,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 74,796.3% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,521,893 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,394,465,000 after purchasing an additional 1,519,861 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 100,422.3% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 796,137 shares of the retailer's stock worth $729,476,000 after buying an additional 795,345 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,201,610 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $38,668,069,000 after buying an additional 455,043 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 55.7% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,068,772 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $979,284,000 after buying an additional 382,367 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Loop Capital lowered their target price on shares of 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,035.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,024.03.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 2.8 %

COST traded up $26.75 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 company's fifty day moving average price is $975.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $953.37. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $706.17 and a 1 year high of $1,078.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The firm has a market cap of $441.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.40, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.95.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 analysts' expectations of $63.02 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total value of $3,351,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 41,077 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $38,242,687. This trade represents a 8.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total transaction of $1,034,011.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,495,211.65. The trade was a 8.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,600 shares of company stock worth $5,215,915 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

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.