Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.10 EPS

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) announced 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 business had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. The company’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.86 earnings per share.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Costco Wholesale stock traded down $15.82 on Friday, reaching $885.62. 3,459,054 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,969,224. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Costco Wholesale has a twelve month low of $540.23 and a twelve month high of $923.83. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $870.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $816.15. The stock has a market cap of $392.63 billion, a PE ratio of 54.87, a PEG ratio of 5.57 and a beta of 0.80.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Investors of record on Friday, July 26th were paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 presently 28.75%.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,545,746.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Costco Wholesale news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total value of $1,266,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,545,746.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total transaction of $298,035.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,041,057.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 4,974 shares of company stock valued at $4,252,856. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $925.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target 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. 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 note on Friday. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $870.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.