Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.11 EPS

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

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $488.32 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $216.56 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 quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.06 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $495.03 and its 200 day moving average is $492.78.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, CFO Richard A. Galanti sold 2,068 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 25,350 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,252,162. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Costco Wholesale news, CFO Richard A. Galanti sold 2,068 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 25,350 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,252,162. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Caton Frates sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $497.35, for a total value of $298,410.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,320 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,148,552. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 4,168 shares of company stock valued at $2,031,341 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. State of Wyoming bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at $210,000. LifePro Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at $208,000. Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the first quarter valued at $204,000. Sentinus LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Sentinus LLC now owns 441 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $203,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. Finally, KB Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the first quarter valued at $159,000. 66.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on COST. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, April 6th. Barclays initiated coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, February 7th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $510.00 price target on the stock. Roth Capital reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, March 10th. Truist Financial cut their price target on Costco Wholesale from $571.00 to $568.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price target on Costco Wholesale from $545.00 to $535.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 6th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $547.72.

Costco Wholesale Company Profile

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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.