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

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) issued its earnings results on Thursday. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $79.91 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.86 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST stock traded down $15.82 during trading on Friday, hitting $885.62. The company had a trading volume of 3,459,054 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,791,181. Costco Wholesale has a fifty-two week low of $540.23 and a fifty-two week high of $923.83. The company has a market cap of $392.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.87, a P/E/G ratio of 5.47 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $870.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $816.15.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 26th were given 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%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on COST shares. Tigress Financial increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $870.00 to $975.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Redburn Atlantic lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $860.00 to $890.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $780.00 to $880.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $975.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $915.00 to $925.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $881.19.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

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