Q3 2024 EPS Estimates for Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Lifted by Roth Capital

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) – Investment analysts at Roth Capital lifted their Q3 2024 earnings estimates for shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report issued on Thursday, April 11th. Roth Capital analyst W. Kirk now forecasts that the retailer will post earnings per share of $3.80 for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $3.67. The consensus estimate for Costco Wholesale’s current full-year earnings is $15.84 per share. Roth Capital also issued estimates for Costco Wholesale’s Q4 2024 earnings at $4.56 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $4.09 EPS and Q2 2025 earnings at $4.47 EPS.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $58.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.11 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.73% and a return on equity of 28.80%. The business’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.30 EPS.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. Roth Mkm boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $601.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $680.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Loop Capital reduced their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $693.00 to $741.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 21st. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $800.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $691.28.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ COST opened at $718.28 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $318.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.98, a PEG ratio of 4.87 and a beta of 0.77. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $730.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $657.77. Costco Wholesale has a twelve month low of $476.75 and a twelve month high of $787.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th will be issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Yoram Rubanenko sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $680.33, for a total transaction of $1,700,825.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,910 shares in the company, valued at $4,020,750.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Costco Wholesale news, VP Yoram Rubanenko sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $680.33, for a total value of $1,700,825.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 5,910 shares in the company, valued at $4,020,750.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director W Craig Jelinek sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $685.93, for a total transaction of $5,487,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 216,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $148,306,297.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 13,442 shares of company stock worth $9,303,768. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 118,320.2% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,396,524 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,376,513,000 after buying an additional 7,390,278 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth about $3,628,694,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 61,693.5% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,105,124 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,049,630,000 after buying an additional 3,100,099 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 18.0% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,634,627 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,941,708,000 after buying an additional 1,315,174 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 172.6% during the 2nd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,357,548 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $730,877,000 after buying an additional 859,599 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% 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.