Costco Wholesale Corporation to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $1.30 (NASDAQ:COST)

Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, July 16th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st will be given a dividend of 1.30 per share by the retailer on Friday, August 15th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 1st.

Costco Wholesale has a dividend payout ratio of 26.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Costco Wholesale to earn $19.69 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $5.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 26.4%.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of COST stock traded down $2.96 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $950.95. 2,110,863 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,067,122. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $1,000.06 and a 200 day moving average of $982.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Costco Wholesale has a 52-week low of $793.00 and a 52-week high of $1,078.24. The company has a market cap of $421.73 billion, a PE ratio of 53.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.93 and a beta of 0.97.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 30.48%. Costco Wholesale's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.78 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on COST shares. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,060.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Mizuho began coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, April 11th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $975.00 price target on the stock. Loop Capital cut their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,037.48.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,014.15, for a total value of $2,028,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 8,210 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,326,171.50. The trade was a 19.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $980.00, for a total value of $536,060.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 11,531 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,300,380. This trade represents a 4.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 9,547 shares of company stock valued at $9,472,510. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Costco Wholesale stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 12.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 19,825 shares of the retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 2,172 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $18,165,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Institutional investors own 68.48% 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.