DA Davidson Predicts Higher Earnings for Costco Wholesale

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) – Equities research analysts at DA Davidson raised their FY2025 EPS estimates for shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, April 10th. DA Davidson analyst M. Baker now expects that the retailer will post earnings of $17.99 per share for the year, up from their previous estimate of $17.97. DA Davidson currently has a “Neutral” rating and a $1,000.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for Costco Wholesale’s current full-year earnings is $18.03 per share.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.09 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $63.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on COST. Barclays increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Cfra Research upgraded Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,024.03.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ:COST opened at $976.92 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $980.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $950.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $433.44 billion, a PE ratio of 57.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.95. Costco Wholesale has a 12-month low of $702.00 and a 12-month high of $1,078.24.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in COST. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 106,402.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,160,190 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,717,744,000 after buying an additional 8,152,528 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $5,182,316,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 74,796.3% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,521,893 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,394,465,000 after buying an additional 1,519,861 shares during the last quarter. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at $95,452,000. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 100,422.3% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 796,137 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $729,476,000 after purchasing an additional 795,345 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total value of $3,351,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,242,687. The trade was a 8.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total value of $830,304.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at $6,445,926.72. The trade was a 11.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 5,600 shares of company stock valued at $5,215,915. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.09%.

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.