Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) announced its earnings results on Thursday. The retailer reported $5.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10, Briefing.com reports. The business had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 30.02%. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.86 EPS.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $885.62 on Friday. Costco Wholesale has a 1 year low of $540.23 and a 1 year high of $923.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $392.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.87, a P/E/G ratio of 5.57 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $870.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $816.15.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 26th were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 26th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is 28.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the topic of several research reports. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $955.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Loop Capital lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,005.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. DA Davidson increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $780.00 to $880.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $915.00 to $925.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $915.00 to $925.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $881.19.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total value of $298,035.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,041,057.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total transaction of $1,266,300.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,492 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,545,746.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total transaction of $298,035.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,041,057.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,974 shares of company stock valued at $4,252,856 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale Company 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.