Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.10 EPS

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) announced its earnings results on Thursday. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10, Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 30.02%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.86 EPS.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

COST traded down $15.82 on Friday, hitting $885.62. 3,459,054 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,969,224. The stock has a market capitalization of $392.63 billion, a PE ratio of 54.87, a PEG ratio of 5.57 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a 50 day moving average of $870.67 and a 200-day moving average of $816.15. Costco Wholesale has a 12-month low of $540.23 and a 12-month high of $923.83.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 26th were issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 26th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 28.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $927.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. StockNews.com cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $925.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $860.00 to $890.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $881.19.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total transaction of $543,430.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,775 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,320,787.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total value of $543,430.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,775 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,320,787.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total transaction of $298,035.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,920 shares in the company, valued at $5,041,057.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,974 shares of company stock worth $4,252,856 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.