Zacks Research Forecasts Lower Earnings for Costco Wholesale

Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) - Research analysts at Zacks Research reduced their Q4 2025 EPS estimates for shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, June 19th. Zacks Research analyst S. Singh now anticipates that the retailer will earn $5.84 per share for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $5.88. The consensus estimate for Costco Wholesale's current full-year earnings is $18.03 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Costco Wholesale's Q1 2026 earnings at $4.27 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $4.46 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $4.80 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $20.00 EPS, Q1 2027 earnings at $4.67 EPS, Q2 2027 earnings at $4.90 EPS, Q3 2027 earnings at $5.21 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $21.80 EPS.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 30.48%. The firm had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $62.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.78 EPS. The company's revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on COST. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Mizuho began coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, April 11th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $975.00 price objective for the company. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,034.79.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $980.29 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 1.02. Costco Wholesale has a 52-week low of $793.00 and a 52-week high of $1,078.24. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $1,002.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $981.03. The stock has a market cap of $434.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.79 and a beta of 1.00.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,002.77, for a total transaction of $3,008,310.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 58,543 shares of the company's stock, valued at $58,705,164.11. This trade represents a 4.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total transaction of $3,924,280.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,994 shares in the company, valued at $43,161,193.58. The trade was a 8.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 10,647 shares of company stock valued at $10,530,961. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. SRN Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. SRN Advisors LLC now owns 3,081 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $2,823,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Miramar Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Miramar Capital LLC now owns 525 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $481,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 22.2% during the fourth quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 55 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Peninsula Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Peninsula Wealth LLC now owns 818 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $749,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bosun Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Bosun Asset Management LLC now owns 636 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $583,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.