Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) Declares $1.30 Quarterly Dividend

Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, July 16th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 1st will be paid a dividend of 1.30 per share by the retailer on Friday, August 15th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%.

Costco Wholesale has a payout ratio of 26.1% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Costco Wholesale to earn $19.69 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $5.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 26.4%.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 1.7%

Shares of COST stock opened at $951.37 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $1,001.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $982.21. The company has a market cap of $421.91 billion, a PE ratio of 53.96, a P/E/G ratio of 6.02 and a beta of 0.97. Costco Wholesale has a fifty-two week low of $793.00 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 1.02.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.48% and a net margin of 2.92%. The company had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $62.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.78 EPS. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Costco Wholesale will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $980.00, for a total transaction of $536,060.00. Following the sale, the director owned 11,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,300,380. The trade was a 4.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,014.15, for a total transaction of $2,028,300.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 8,210 shares in the company, valued at $8,326,171.50. The trade was a 19.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 9,547 shares of company stock worth $9,472,510. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Costco Wholesale stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 12.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 19,825 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,172 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $18,165,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on COST. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Mizuho started coverage on Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, April 11th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $975.00 target price on the stock. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 target price on Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Loop Capital cut their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,037.48.

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.