Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Expected to Earn Q3 2024 Earnings of $3.66 Per Share

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) – Analysts at Zacks Research boosted their Q3 2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Costco Wholesale in a report issued on Wednesday, March 27th. Zacks Research analyst S. Singh now anticipates that the retailer will post earnings of $3.66 per share for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $3.60. The consensus estimate for Costco Wholesale’s current full-year earnings is $15.78 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Costco Wholesale’s Q4 2024 earnings at $4.90 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $15.96 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $3.92 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $4.03 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $5.31 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $17.00 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $4.02 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $4.23 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $18.31 EPS.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $58.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.11 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 2.73%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.30 earnings per share.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on COST. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $640.00 to $725.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $693.00 to $741.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 21st. Finally, Raymond James raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $580.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 15th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $668.50.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.1 %

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $732.63 on Thursday. Costco Wholesale has a 52 week low of $476.75 and a 52 week high of $787.08. The stock has a market cap of $324.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.90, a PEG ratio of 5.07 and a beta of 0.77. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $724.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $642.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 2nd were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 1st. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 26.68%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total transaction of $1,072,245.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $662.30, for a total value of $927,220.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 13,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,220,540.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total value of $1,072,245.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,582 shares of company stock worth $10,736,778 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Richelieu Gestion SA bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 200.0% during the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Costco Wholesale

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.