Lafayette Investments Inc. Raises Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Lafayette Investments Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 6,293 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 23 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises 1.2% of Lafayette Investments Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Lafayette Investments Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $5,766,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at about $8,430,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,662 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,020,000 after acquiring an additional 1,001 shares during the period. Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $984,000. Stanich Group LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at $214,000. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 15.4% in the 4th quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,913 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $10,916,000 after purchasing an additional 1,590 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 1.7 %

COST stock opened at $979.32 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $434.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.51, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $702.00 and a twelve month high of $1,078.24. The company’s 50 day moving average is $981.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $950.46.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.09 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. Research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Loop Capital dropped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,045.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,024.03.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. This trade represents a 11.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total value of $1,034,011.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,165 shares in the company, valued at $10,495,211.65. This trade represents a 8.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,600 shares of company stock valued at $5,215,915 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.