Elite Financial Inc. Buys New Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Elite Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 564 shares of the retailer's stock, valued at approximately $516,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Stanich Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth $214,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,739,175 shares of the retailer's stock worth $8,901,249,000 after acquiring an additional 252,118 shares during the last quarter. Brentview Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth $4,522,000. Manuka Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth $258,000. Finally, Flavin Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at $1,494,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ COST traded down $4.40 on Thursday, hitting $1,008.74. The company had a trading volume of 2,001,391 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,049,582. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $788.20 and a 12-month high of $1,078.24. The business has a 50 day moving average of $979.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $974.01. 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 market capitalization of $447.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.23, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.25 by $0.03. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.78 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were given a $1.30 dividend. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is presently 30.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on COST. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Truist Financial lifted 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. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group set a $1,100.00 price objective on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,028.46.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total transaction of $3,924,280.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,161,193.58. This represents a 8.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at $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 90 days, insiders have sold 9,600 shares of company stock worth $9,140,195. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.