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

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

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST traded down $15.82 on Friday, reaching $885.62. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,459,054 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,791,181. Costco Wholesale has a 12-month low of $540.23 and a 12-month high of $923.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $392.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.87, a PEG ratio of 5.47 and a beta of 0.80. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $870.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $816.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.45.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on COST shares. Tigress Financial upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $870.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $780.00 to $880.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Barclays raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $876.00 to $995.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $881.19.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total value of $1,266,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,545,746.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total value of $298,035.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,041,057.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total value of $1,266,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,545,746.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 4,974 shares of company stock worth $4,252,856. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

About Costco Wholesale

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.