NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC Boosts Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 43,312 shares of the retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 526 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale makes up approximately 1.2% of NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC's holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $39,685,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 250.0% in the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Collier Financial bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Barrett & Company Inc. grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 59.3% in the 4th quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. now owns 43 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday. DA Davidson increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price target on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,035.32.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 4.0%

Shares of COST stock traded up $40.04 on Friday, hitting $1,048.78. The stock had a trading volume of 5,400,884 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,061,175. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $465.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 61.58, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $788.20 and a 1 year high of $1,078.24. The company's 50 day moving average price is $983.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $975.34.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. The firm had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $62.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.78 EPS. Costco Wholesale's revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio is presently 30.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total transaction of $830,304.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. This represents a 11.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed 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 stock was sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total value of $3,924,280.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,994 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $43,161,193.58. This represents a 8.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,600 shares of company stock valued at $9,140,195 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.