Clear Creek Financial Management LLC Acquires 543 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

Clear Creek Financial Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 10.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,737 shares of the retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 543 shares during the quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $5,426,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of COST. May Barnhard Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $485,000. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 19,825 shares of the retailer's stock worth $18,165,000 after buying an additional 2,172 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,029,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 33.3% during the fourth quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 188 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $172,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 45.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 117,254 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $107,436,000 after buying an additional 36,384 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the subject of a number of research reports. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,034.79.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Costco Wholesale stock traded up $3.91 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $986.27. 1,101,351 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,076,297. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12 month low of $793.00 and a 12 month high of $1,078.24. The firm has a market cap of $437.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.94, a PEG ratio of 6.11 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $1,005.02 and a 200 day moving average of $981.05.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 30.48%. The business had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.78 EPS. Costco Wholesale's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is 29.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,014.15, for a total transaction of $2,028,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 8,210 shares in the company, valued at $8,326,171.50. This represents a 19.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total transaction of $3,924,280.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 43,994 shares of the company's stock, valued at $43,161,193.58. This represents a 8.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 9,547 shares of company stock valued at $9,496,950. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Costco Wholesale

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.