Analysts Anticipate Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Will Post Quarterly Sales of $50.84 Billion

Wall Street analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST – Get Rating) will report sales of $50.84 billion for the current quarter, according to Zacks Investment Research. Eight analysts have made estimates for Costco Wholesale’s earnings. The highest sales estimate is $52.90 billion and the lowest is $48.18 billion. Costco Wholesale reported sales of $45.28 billion in the same quarter last year, which indicates a positive year-over-year growth rate of 12.3%. The company is scheduled to report its next earnings results after the market closes on Monday, January 1st.

On average, analysts expect that Costco Wholesale will report full-year sales of $222.32 billion for the current year, with estimates ranging from $216.61 billion to $227.08 billion. For the next year, analysts anticipate that the company will post sales of $240.61 billion, with estimates ranging from $231.14 billion to $250.25 billion. Zacks’ sales averages are an average based on a survey of research firms that cover Costco Wholesale.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 3rd. The retailer reported $2.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.74 by $0.18. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.10% and a net margin of 2.62%. The business had revenue of $51.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $51.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.14 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Loop Capital raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $605.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 7th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 5th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $520.00 to $678.00 in a report on Thursday, April 14th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $550.00 to $555.00 in a report on Thursday, January 6th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $603.00 to $634.00 in a report on Thursday, April 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $576.43.

COST stock opened at $528.08 on Wednesday. Costco Wholesale has a 52-week low of $371.11 and a 52-week high of $612.27. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $557.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $533.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $234.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.70.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 13th. Investors of record on Friday, April 29th will be issued a $0.90 dividend. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.79. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 28th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 29.01%.

In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 250 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $554.67, for a total value of $138,667.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $602.03, for a total value of $301,015.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 9,939 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,983,576.17. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 9,248 shares of company stock valued at $5,417,137. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. Evolution Advisers Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. PSI Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the third quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Mystic Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. Institutional investors own 67.52% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Company Profile (Get Rating)

Costco Wholesale Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the operation of membership warehouses in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Japan, Korea, Australia, Spain, France, Iceland, China, and Taiwan. It offers branded and private-label products in a range of merchandise categories.

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