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 Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on COST shares. Raymond James raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $560.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 5th. Loop Capital cut their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $650.00 to $610.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 27th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $580.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday, May 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $580.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, July 29th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 15th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $576.68.
Costco Wholesale Trading Down 1.1 %
COST traded down $6.43 during trading on Friday, reaching $554.53. The company had a trading volume of 1,608,353 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,643,571. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $506.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $518.72. The stock has a market cap of $245.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.84, a PEG ratio of 4.64 and a beta of 0.69. Costco Wholesale has a 52 week low of $406.51 and a 52 week high of $612.27.
Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 26th. The retailer reported $3.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.17. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.60% and a return on equity of 29.71%. The firm had revenue of $52.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $51.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.75 EPS. The business's revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale will post 13.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Costco Wholesale Cuts Dividend
The firm 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.06%. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio is 28.35%.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other Costco Wholesale news, VP James P. Murphy sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $464.00, for a total value of $1,160,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 37,730 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $17,506,720. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, VP James P. Murphy sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 37,730 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $17,506,720. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Richard A. Galanti sold 1,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.60, for a total transaction of $505,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 25,750 shares in the company, valued at $13,019,200. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 5,300 shares of company stock valued at $2,609,904. Insiders own 0.22% of the company's stock.
