Costco Wholesale Co. (COST) To Go Ex-Dividend on November 1st

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, October 16th, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st will be paid a dividend of 1.16 per share by the retailer on Friday, November 15th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st.

Costco Wholesale has increased its dividend by an average of 12.9% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 21 years. Costco Wholesale has a payout ratio of 26.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Costco Wholesale to earn $19.29 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.64 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 24.1%.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST stock opened at $884.40 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $888.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $831.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $392.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.53 and a beta of 0.80. Costco Wholesale has a 12-month low of $540.23 and a 12-month high of $923.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.44.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 2.90%. The firm had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.91 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.86 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale will post 17.73 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total transaction of $2,844,768.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,630 shares in the company, valued at $7,671,983.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $891.15, for a total value of $3,921,060.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,202 shares in the company, valued at $9,091,512.30. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total value of $2,844,768.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,630 shares in the company, valued at $7,671,983.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,224 shares of company stock valued at $9,974,973 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on COST shares. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $880.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $1,000.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $927.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $980.00 price target (up previously from $950.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, September 27th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $890.07.

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.