Roth Capital Research Analysts Increase Earnings Estimates for Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) – Investment analysts at Roth Capital upped their Q3 2024 earnings per share estimates for shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, April 11th. Roth Capital analyst W. Kirk now forecasts that the retailer will post earnings of $3.80 per share for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of $3.67. The consensus estimate for Costco Wholesale’s current full-year earnings is $15.84 per share. Roth Capital also issued estimates for Costco Wholesale’s Q4 2024 earnings at $4.56 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $4.09 EPS and Q2 2025 earnings at $4.47 EPS.

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

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on COST. Northcoast Research downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $620.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, December 20th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $693.00 to $741.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Loop Capital lowered their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $795.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $691.28.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $731.31 on Monday. Costco Wholesale has a twelve month low of $476.75 and a twelve month high of $787.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $730.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $656.72. The company has a market capitalization of $324.34 billion, a PE ratio of 47.83, a PEG ratio of 5.05 and a beta of 0.77.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.9% in the first quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC now owns 1,535 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,125,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Von Berge Wealth Management Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 48.9% in the first quarter. Von Berge Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 865 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $634,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares during the last quarter. Inspirion Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 11.4% in the first quarter. Inspirion Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 676 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $495,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Affinity Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.5% in the first quarter. Affinity Capital Advisors LLC now owns 627 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $459,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 5.7% in the first quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 23,579 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $17,274,000 after purchasing an additional 1,278 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total transaction of $1,043,258.16. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,967,534.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total transaction of $1,043,258.16. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,967,534.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total value of $1,072,245.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at $4,785,786.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 14,182 shares of company stock valued at $9,809,558 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th will be paid a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.35%.

Costco Wholesale Company Profile

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.