DA Davidson Analysts Boost Earnings Estimates for Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) – Stock analysts at DA Davidson upped their FY2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Costco Wholesale in a note issued to investors on Thursday, April 11th. DA Davidson analyst M. Baker now forecasts that the retailer will post earnings per share of $16.70 for the year, up from their previous forecast of $16.60. DA Davidson has a “Neutral” rating and a $680.00 price objective on the stock. The consensus estimate for Costco Wholesale’s current full-year earnings is $15.84 per share.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $795.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Northcoast Research cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $620.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, December 20th. StockNews.com cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Truist Financial raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $693.00 to $741.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $691.28.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of COST opened at $715.97 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $317.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.87 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.93. Costco Wholesale has a one year low of $476.75 and a one year high of $787.08. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $730.92 and its 200-day moving average is $658.84.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $58.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.11 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 2.73%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.30 earnings per share.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 26.68%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total value of $1,072,245.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total value of $1,072,245.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Yoram Rubanenko sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $680.33, for a total value of $1,700,825.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,020,750.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 13,442 shares of company stock valued at $9,303,768. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Richelieu Gestion SA acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 200.0% during the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Aspect Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.