Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.10 EPS

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

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

COST stock opened at $885.62 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $870.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $816.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $392.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.87, a PEG ratio of 5.57 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.94. Costco Wholesale has a 1 year low of $540.23 and a 1 year high of $923.83.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total transaction of $1,266,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,492 shares of the company’s stock, 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. In related news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now owns 11,775 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,320,787.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 12,492 shares in the company, valued at $10,545,746.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 4,974 shares of company stock valued at $4,252,856 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $925.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Redburn Atlantic cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $860.00 to $890.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Melius Research began coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $950.00 target price for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $955.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $881.19.

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.