Napatree Capital LLC Increases Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Napatree Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 40.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 363 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 104 shares during the quarter. Napatree Capital LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $333,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the third quarter valued at $29,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 250.0% in the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Collier Financial bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 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. This represents a 8.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $840.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Raymond James lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $990.00 to $1,030.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Nine investment 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, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,029.00.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $909.26 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $987.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $945.06. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $697.27 and a 52 week high of $1,078.24. The company has a market capitalization of $403.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.39, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. 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) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 EPS 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 business had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.02 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 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.