DA Davidson Predicts Stronger Earnings for Costco Wholesale

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) – Equities researchers at DA Davidson boosted their FY2025 earnings per share estimates for Costco Wholesale in a research note issued to investors on Friday, December 13th. DA Davidson analyst M. Baker now anticipates that the retailer will post earnings per share of $18.31 for the year, up from their previous estimate of $17.80. DA Davidson currently has a “Neutral” rating and a $900.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for Costco Wholesale’s current full-year earnings is $17.83 per share. DA Davidson also issued estimates for Costco Wholesale’s FY2026 earnings at $19.43 EPS.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 33.19% and a net margin of 2.93%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.86 earnings per share.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $840.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,050.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Roth Mkm lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $755.00 to $907.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $988.46.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $992.87 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.97. The company has a market cap of $439.91 billion, a PE ratio of 58.30, a P/E/G ratio of 6.02 and a beta of 0.82. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $929.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $887.00. Costco Wholesale has a fifty-two week low of $640.51 and a fifty-two week high of $1,008.25.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st were issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 27.25%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $891.15, for a total transaction of $3,921,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,091,512.30. This trade represents a 30.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total value of $2,844,768.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,671,983.70. The trade was a 27.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,016 shares of company stock valued at $9,826,115 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS now owns 4,033 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,575,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 12.8% in the 3rd quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 756 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $671,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. FFG Partners LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. FFG Partners LLC now owns 23,814 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $21,112,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $9,539,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 3,954 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,506,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.