Equities Analysts Issue Forecasts for Costco Wholesale Co.’s FY2024 Earnings (NASDAQ:COST)

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) – Equities research analysts at Telsey Advisory Group reduced their FY2024 earnings per share estimates for Costco Wholesale in a research report issued on Wednesday, April 10th. Telsey Advisory Group analyst J. Feldman now expects that the retailer will post earnings per share of $15.69 for the year, down from their prior estimate of $15.89. Telsey Advisory Group currently has a “Outperform” rating and a $800.00 price target on the stock. The consensus estimate for Costco Wholesale’s current full-year earnings is $15.84 per share. Telsey Advisory Group also issued estimates for Costco Wholesale’s Q4 2024 earnings at $5.01 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $3.83 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $4.08 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $4.02 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $5.66 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $17.60 EPS.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on COST. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $693.00 to $741.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Northcoast Research lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $620.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, December 20th. StockNews.com lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $795.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $691.28.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

NASDAQ:COST opened at $718.28 on Monday. The firm 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. Costco Wholesale has a 52-week low of $476.75 and a 52-week high of $787.08. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $730.82 and a 200 day moving average of $657.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.93.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.30 earnings per share.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

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 transaction of $1,072,245.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other 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 value 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 approximately $4,785,786.85. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total value of $1,043,258.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 12,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,967,534.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 13,442 shares of company stock valued at $9,303,768 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Procyon Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 24.7% during the 1st quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 10,110 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,407,000 after purchasing an additional 2,004 shares during the last quarter. Cardinal Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 21,861 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $16,016,000 after acquiring an additional 557 shares during the last quarter. ERn Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. ERn Financial LLC now owns 2,036 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,492,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Mosley Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter valued at about $215,000. Finally, Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC now owns 22,912 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $16,786,000 after acquiring an additional 557 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

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.