Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Announces Earnings Results

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

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock traded down $15.82 during trading on Friday, reaching $885.62. 3,459,054 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,969,224. Costco Wholesale has a 52-week low of $540.23 and a 52-week high of $923.83. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $870.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $816.15. The company has a market capitalization of $392.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.87, a P/E/G ratio of 5.57 and a beta of 0.80.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on COST shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $955.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $780.00 to $880.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $870.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $860.00 to $890.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $881.19.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total transaction of $543,430.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,775 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,320,787.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $874.05, for a total value of $437,025.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,015,745. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $543,430.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,775 shares in the company, valued at $10,320,787.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 4,974 shares of company stock worth $4,252,856. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.