Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. Acquires 20 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,510 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,384,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $8,430,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,662 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,020,000 after purchasing an additional 1,001 shares during the period. Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $984,000. Stanich Group LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $214,000. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 1,590 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of 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 upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,035.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,024.03.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

COST opened at $979.23 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $434.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.50, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.95. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $971.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $954.07. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $714.41 and a 1-year high of $1,078.24. 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 (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $63.02 billion. On average, analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be 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 an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 30.36%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total value of $830,304.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. The trade was a 11.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total value of $3,924,280.00. Following the sale, 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 a total of 9,600 shares of company stock worth $9,140,195 in the last quarter. 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.