Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.01 EPS

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST – Get Rating) released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The retailer reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.03 by $0.01, RTT News reports. The firm had revenue of $52.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $51.49 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.62% and a return on equity of 30.10%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.75 EPS.

Costco Wholesale stock traded up $24.88 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $464.99. 5,410,452 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,770,772. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $538.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $531.41. The firm has a market cap of $206.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.47, a PEG ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 0.70. Costco Wholesale has a fifty-two week low of $375.50 and a fifty-two week high of $612.27.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 29th were paid a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.77%. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.79. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 28th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 29.01%.

COST has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $560.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $530.00 to $525.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $555.00 to $565.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 5th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, March 31st. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $520.00 to $678.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 14th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $566.86.

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 500 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,939 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,983,576.17. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 4,498 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $603.00, for a total transaction of $2,712,294.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,108 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,904,124. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 9,248 shares of company stock valued at $5,417,137 over the last three months. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Next Century Growth Investors LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.9% during the first quarter. Next Century Growth Investors LLC now owns 3,414 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,965,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Nelson Van Denburg & Campbell Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.7% during the first quarter. Nelson Van Denburg & Campbell Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 5,280 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,040,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC now owns 970 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $551,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. KC Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.9% during the first quarter. KC Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,304 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,327,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Finally, Wall Street Access Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.7% during the first quarter. Wall Street Access Asset Management LLC now owns 783 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $451,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. 67.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Costco Wholesale (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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