Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04, RTT News reports. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. The business had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.93 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.78 EPS. The business's revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year.
Costco Wholesale Stock Performance
Shares of COST stock traded up $40.04 on Friday, hitting $1,048.78. The company had a trading volume of 5,400,884 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,051,940. The firm has a market cap of $465.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 61.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $983.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $975.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Costco Wholesale has a twelve month low of $793.00 and a twelve month high of $1,078.24.
Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio is 30.36%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on COST. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Cfra Research upgraded Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,070.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,035.32.
Check Out Our Latest Report on COST
Insider Activity
In other news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total value of $3,351,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 41,077 shares of the company's stock, valued at $38,242,687. The trade was a 8.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total value of $830,304.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,987 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. This represents a 11.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 9,600 shares of company stock valued at $9,140,195 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Costco Wholesale
A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Costco Wholesale stock. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 12.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 19,825 shares of the retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 2,172 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $18,165,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.
About Costco Wholesale
(
Get Free Report)
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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