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

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

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of COST traded down $15.82 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $885.62. 3,459,054 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,969,224. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $870.67 and a 200-day moving average of $816.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.45. Costco Wholesale has a one year low of $540.23 and a one year high of $923.83. The firm has a market cap of $392.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.87, a PEG ratio of 5.57 and a beta of 0.80.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on COST. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Truist Financial downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $873.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday. Melius Research initiated coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $950.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $980.00 price objective (up previously from $950.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $881.19.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

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

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.