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 Stock Performance
Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $560.96 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $248.48 billion, a PE ratio of 44.17, a PEG ratio of 4.62 and a beta of 0.69. Costco Wholesale has a 12 month low of $406.51 and a 12 month high of $612.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $506.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $518.72.
Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 26th. The retailer reported $3.17 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $52.60 billion for 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 firm's revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.75 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale will post 13.05 EPS for the current year.
Costco Wholesale Cuts Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 12th. Investors of record on Friday, July 29th were paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.06%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 28th. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio is presently 28.35%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of research firms have recently commented on COST. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $600.00 to $560.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 27th. Loop Capital cut their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $650.00 to $610.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 27th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $510.00 to $545.00 in a report on Thursday, August 4th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a "buy" rating and set a $580.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Monday, May 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $555.00 to $565.00 in a report on Thursday, May 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $576.68.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $521.68, for a total transaction of $156,504.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,197 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,711,170.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Costco Wholesale news, VP James P. Murphy sold 2,500 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 37,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,506,720. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $521.68, for a total value of $156,504.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,197 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,711,170.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 5,300 shares of company stock valued at $2,609,904. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
