Costco Wholesale Co. Expected to Earn Q3 2024 Earnings of $3.75 Per Share (NASDAQ:COST)

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) – Analysts at William Blair raised their Q3 2024 earnings estimates for Costco Wholesale in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, April 11th. William Blair analyst P. Blee now forecasts that the retailer will earn $3.75 per share for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $3.46. The consensus estimate for Costco Wholesale’s current full-year earnings is $15.84 per share.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on COST. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $693.00 to $741.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Northcoast Research lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $620.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, December 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Roth Mkm increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $601.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $691.28.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

COST opened at $718.28 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $730.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $657.77. Costco Wholesale has a 1 year low of $476.75 and a 1 year high of $787.08. The company has a market capitalization of $318.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.98, a P/E/G ratio of 4.87 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced 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 the consensus estimate 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 period in the prior year, the company earned $3.30 earnings per share.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.68%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $4,785,786.85. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director W Craig Jelinek sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $685.93, for a total value of $5,487,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 216,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $148,306,297.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 13,442 shares of company stock worth $9,303,768 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Richelieu Gestion SA acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 200.0% during the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Aspect Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.