Research Analysts Set Expectations for COST FY2026 Earnings

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) – Equities research analysts at DA Davidson reduced their FY2026 EPS estimates for Costco Wholesale in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, January 9th. DA Davidson analyst M. Baker now forecasts that the retailer will post earnings of $19.40 per share for the year, down from their prior estimate of $19.43. DA Davidson has a “Neutral” rating and a $900.00 price target on the stock. The consensus estimate for Costco Wholesale’s current full-year earnings is $17.83 per share.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $940.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Roth Mkm raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $755.00 to $907.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Melius Research initiated coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $950.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $1,016.00 target price on the stock. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,013.59.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $924.70 on Monday. Costco Wholesale has a 1-year low of $675.96 and a 1-year high of $1,008.25. The stock has a market cap of $410.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.30, a P/E/G ratio of 6.02 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $948.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $899.73.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st were paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total value of $1,266,866.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 27,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,514,232. The trade was a 4.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of COST. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 113,947.9% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 7,370,916 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,534,464,000 after purchasing an additional 7,364,453 shares during the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 99,208.6% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,474,733 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,253,508,000 after buying an additional 1,473,248 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 28.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,538,078 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,307,363,000 after acquiring an additional 338,780 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 75,894.4% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 338,935 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $300,473,000 after acquiring an additional 338,489 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,308,615 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,252,274,000 after acquiring an additional 324,973 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.