Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST – Get Rating) announced its earnings results on Thursday. The retailer reported $3.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.32 by $0.11, Briefing.com reports. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.66% and a net margin of 2.58%. The business had revenue of $53.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $54.58 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.17 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.8 %

COST opened at $486.55 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $215.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.75, a PEG ratio of 4.01 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Costco Wholesale has a 12 month low of $443.20 and a 12 month high of $564.75. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $495.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $492.78.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 5th were given a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.84%. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 4th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 29.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on COST shares. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $571.00 to $568.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 4th. William Blair assumed coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research note on Wednesday, April 12th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $545.00 to $535.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 6th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $525.00 to $520.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 3rd. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $540.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, April 6th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $547.72.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, CFO Richard A. Galanti sold 2,068 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $483.32, for a total transaction of $999,505.76. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 25,350 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,252,162. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CFO Richard A. Galanti sold 2,068 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $483.32, for a total value of $999,505.76. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 25,350 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,252,162. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $488.95, for a total value of $733,425.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,093 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,934,972.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 4,168 shares of company stock valued at $2,031,341 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $64,000. Retirement Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 25.2% during the fourth quarter. Retirement Group LLC now owns 164 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Worth Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter valued at approximately $76,000. Finally, Quarry LP increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 133.8% in the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 159 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.03% of the company’s stock.

About Costco Wholesale

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Costco Wholesale Corp. engages in the operation of membership warehouses through wholly owned subsidiaries. It operates through the following geographical segments: United States, Canada, and Other International Operations. The company was founded by James D. Sinegal and Jeffrey H. Brotman in 1983 and is headquartered in Issaquah, WA.