Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.07 EPS

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.09 by ($0.07), Zacks reports. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ COST traded down $21.13 during trading on Thursday, reaching $1,026.62. 2,529,474 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,835,856. The stock has a market capitalization of $455.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.28, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43. Costco Wholesale has a fifty-two week low of $697.27 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.24. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $987.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $941.75.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 27.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on COST. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $909.00 to $935.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Roth Mkm raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $755.00 to $907.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Loop Capital upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,005.00 to $1,095.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $1,075.00 price objective (up previously from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,021.93.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Costco Wholesale stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 12.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 19,825 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,172 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $18,165,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.