Costco Wholesale Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the operation of membership warehouses in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Japan, Korea, Australia, Spain, France, Iceland, China, and Taiwan. It offers branded and private-label products in a range of merchandise categories. The company offers sundries, dry groceries, candies, coolers, freezers, liquor, and tobacco and deli products; appliances, electronics, health and beauty aids, hardware, garden and patio products, sporting goods, tires, toys and seasonal products, office supplies, automotive care products, postages, tickets, apparel, small appliances, furniture, domestics, housewares, special order kiosks, and jewelry; and meat, produce, service deli, and bakery products. It also operates pharmacies, opticals, food courts, hearing-aid centers, and tire installation centers, as well as 636 gas stations; and offers business delivery, travel, same-day grocery, and various other services online in various countries. As of August 29, 2021, the company operated 815 membership warehouses, including 564 in the United States and Puerto Rico, 105 in Canada, 39 in Mexico, 30 in Japan, 29 in the United Kingdom, 16 in South Korea, 14 in Taiwan, 12 in Australia, 3 in Spain, 1 in Iceland, 1 in France, and 1 in China. It also operates e-commerce websites in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Mexico, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, and Australia. The company was formerly known as Costco Companies, Inc. and changed its name to Costco Wholesale Corporation in August 1999. Costco Wholesale Corporation was founded in 1976 and is based in Issaquah, Washington.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several brokerages recently issued reports on COST. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $535.00 to $600.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 4th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $543.00 to $571.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 4th. Telsey Advisory Group cut their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $615.00 to $590.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 27th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $555.00 to $565.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 5th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $576.68.
Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.2 %
Shares of NASDAQ:COST traded up $1.21 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $538.42. 8,432 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,651,072. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market cap of $238.50 billion, a PE ratio of 42.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.69. The company's fifty day moving average is $499.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $517.45. Costco Wholesale has a fifty-two week low of $406.51 and a fifty-two week high of $612.27.
Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 26th. The retailer reported $3.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $52.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $51.49 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 29.71% and a net margin of 2.60%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.75 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Costco Wholesale will post 13.05 earnings per share for the current year.
Costco Wholesale Cuts Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 29th were issued a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 28th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.07%. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.35%.
Insider Activity
In related news, VP James P. Murphy sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $464.00, for a total transaction of $1,160,000.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 37,730 shares in the company, valued at $17,506,720. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Costco Wholesale news, VP James P. Murphy sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.20, for a total transaction of $787,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 36,230 shares in the company, valued at $19,027,996. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP James P. Murphy sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $464.00, for a total value of $1,160,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 37,730 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,506,720. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,300 shares of company stock worth $2,609,904 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company's stock.
