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.
Costco Wholesale Trading Down 1.4 %
Shares of COST Stock opened at $532.20 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $235.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.15, a PEG ratio of 4.47 and a beta of 0.69. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $497.39 and a 200-day moving average of $516.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Costco Wholesale has a 1-year low of $406.51 and a 1-year high of $612.27.
Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 26th. The retailer reported $3.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $52.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $51.49 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 29.71% and a net margin of 2.60%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.75 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale will post 13.05 earnings per share for the current year.
Costco Wholesale Cuts Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 12th. Investors of record on Friday, July 29th will be given a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 28th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.07%. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio is 28.35%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
COST has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $555.00 to $565.00 in a report on Thursday, May 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $525.00 to $579.00 in a report on Thursday, July 14th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $535.00 to $600.00 in a report on Thursday, August 4th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $600.00 to $560.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 27th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $576.68.
Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale
In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Mary Agnes Wilderotter bought 850 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 7th. The shares were bought at an average price of $470.74 per share, for a total transaction of $400,129.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,295 shares in the company, valued at $5,317,008.30. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Mary Agnes Wilderotter bought 850 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 7th. The shares were bought at an average price of $470.74 per share, for a total transaction of $400,129.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,295 shares in the company, valued at $5,317,008.30. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP James P. Murphy sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president now owns 37,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company's stock.
