Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Receives Outperform Rating from Telsey Advisory Group

Telsey Advisory Group reiterated their outperform rating on shares of Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) in a report published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $1,000.00 price target on the retailer’s stock. Telsey Advisory Group also issued estimates for Costco Wholesale’s Q1 2026 earnings at $4.40 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $4.59 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $4.62 EPS and Q4 2026 earnings at $6.45 EPS.

COST has been the topic of several other research reports. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,005.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an outperform rating and set a $980.00 price objective (up from $950.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, September 27th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $975.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $883.04.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.8 %

COST opened at $883.11 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $875.41 and a 200 day moving average of $822.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Costco Wholesale has a 12 month low of $540.23 and a 12 month high of $923.83. The company has a market cap of $391.51 billion, a PE ratio of 54.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.34 and a beta of 0.80.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 2.90%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.86 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Costco Wholesale will post 17.73 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 26th were issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 26th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.75%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total value of $543,430.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,775 shares in the company, valued at $10,320,787.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total value of $543,430.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,775 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,320,787.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total value of $2,844,768.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,671,983.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 8,174 shares of company stock worth $7,097,624 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in COST. Oak Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Oak Asset Management LLC now owns 4,396 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,737,000 after buying an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,786 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,518,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the period. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. now owns 995 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $729,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Boltwood Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 790 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $671,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the period. Finally, LifePro Asset Management boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.8% in the second quarter. LifePro Asset Management now owns 358 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $304,000 after buying an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.