Q3 EPS Estimates for Costco Wholesale Cut by William Blair

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) – Investment analysts at William Blair cut their Q3 2025 EPS estimates for shares of Costco Wholesale in a report issued on Wednesday, May 7th. William Blair analyst P. Blee now anticipates that the retailer will post earnings of $4.16 per share for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $4.18. The consensus estimate for Costco Wholesale’s current full-year earnings is $18.03 per share.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on COST. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,035.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,024.03.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.8%

COST opened at $1,016.15 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $450.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.67, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. Costco Wholesale has a 12 month low of $771.43 and a 12 month high of $1,078.24. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $958.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $964.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.09 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dillon & Associates Inc. boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 22.5% during the 1st quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. now owns 9,940 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $9,403,000 after acquiring an additional 1,826 shares in the last quarter. AGF Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 104.9% during the 1st quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 78,276 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $74,032,000 after acquiring an additional 40,068 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 19.1% during the 1st quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 119,464 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $112,987,000 after acquiring an additional 19,186 shares in the last quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 22.3% during the 1st quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC now owns 214 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $202,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AIA Group Ltd boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 15,383 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $14,549,000 after acquiring an additional 1,081 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total transaction of $3,351,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at $38,242,687. This represents a 8.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total transaction of $830,304.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. The trade was a 11.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 9,600 shares of company stock worth $9,140,195 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be issued a $1.30 dividend. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.36%.

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.