William Blair Has Bearish Estimate for COST FY2026 Earnings

Key Points

• William Blair has lowered its FY2026 earnings per share estimate for Costco Wholesale from $20.55 to $19.51, contrasting with the current consensus estimate of $18.03 per share.
• Despite the downgrade, other analysts have maintained positive ratings, with Telsey Advisory Group and JPMorgan Chase increasing their price targets for Costco shares.
• Costco recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.30, which indicates an annualized dividend yield of 0.5% and a payout ratio of 29.50%.

Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) - Equities research analysts at William Blair reduced their FY2026 earnings per share estimates for shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report issued on Thursday, September 4th. William Blair analyst P. Blee now anticipates that the retailer will post earnings per share of $19.51 for the year, down from their prior estimate of $20.55. The consensus estimate for Costco Wholesale's current full-year earnings is $18.03 per share.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and set a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Wednesday, August 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price objective on Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,050.00.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

NASDAQ:COST opened at $963.48 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The business's 50-day moving average price is $962.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $976.69. Costco Wholesale has a 52-week low of $867.16 and a 52-week high of $1,078.23. The firm has a market cap of $427.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.65, a PEG ratio of 5.42 and a beta of 0.97.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of COST. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 22.1% during the 2nd quarter. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC now owns 3,403 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $3,373,000 after buying an additional 617 shares during the last quarter. V. M. Manning & CO. Inc. acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the second quarter valued at approximately $364,000. American Trust grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 6.3% in the second quarter. American Trust now owns 6,756 shares of the retailer's stock worth $6,688,000 after acquiring an additional 403 shares in the last quarter. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 2nd quarter worth $50,000. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 5,364 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $5,310,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total value of $3,899,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 5,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,629,419.04. This represents a 40.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total transaction of $595,230.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 2,362 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. This represents a 20.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,147 shares of company stock worth $5,031,130 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st were issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.50%.

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.

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