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

Key Points

• Costco Wholesale Corporation declared a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share, with a yield of 0.5%, scheduled to be paid on November 14th to shareholders of record on October 31st.
• The company's earnings for the last quarter were $5.87 per share, exceeding analyst expectations, with revenues of $86.16 billion, an 8.1% increase year-over-year.
• Costco's dividend is well-covered by earnings, indicated by a payout ratio of 26.1%, and analysts project it will maintain its current dividend amid expected earnings of $19.69 per share next year.

Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be given a dividend of 1.30 per share by the retailer on Friday, November 14th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st.

Costco Wholesale has a dividend payout ratio of 26.1% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. 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 Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $954.99 on Thursday. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $951.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $971.75. Costco Wholesale has a 52-week low of $867.34 and a 52-week high of $1,078.23. The firm has a market cap of $423.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.74 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.81 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $86.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.01 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.94% and a return on equity of 30.09%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.15 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Costco Wholesale will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total transaction of $595,230.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares in the company, valued at $2,343,222.10. This represents a 20.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $915.00, for a total transaction of $3,093,615.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 9,740 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,912,100. This trade represents a 25.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of COST. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $5,692,035,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter valued at $3,461,159,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 418,980.3% in the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 2,359,422 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $2,335,686,000 after buying an additional 2,358,859 shares during the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 96,316.6% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,378,758 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,364,888,000 after buying an additional 1,377,328 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,356,271 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $42,920,107,000 after buying an additional 711,560 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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