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

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10, Briefing.com reports. The business had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.86 EPS.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST opened at $885.62 on Friday. Costco Wholesale has a 52-week low of $540.23 and a 52-week high of $923.83. The company has a 50 day moving average of $870.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $816.70. 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 quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.75%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the company’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 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total value of $543,430.00. Following the completion of 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 12,492 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,545,746.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 4,974 shares of company stock valued at $4,252,856. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on COST shares. Telsey Advisory Group upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $927.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $874.00 to $962.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $881.19.

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.