Costco Wholesale Co. Same Store Sales Increase by 10% in September (NASDAQ:COST)

Costco Wholesale’s (NASDAQ:COST – Free Report) same store sales climbed 10% during the month of September. Costco Wholesale’s shares rose by 0% in the first full-day of trading following the report.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on COST. HSBC began coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, September 22nd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $600.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $535.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Argus increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $630.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $560.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 3rd. Finally, VNET Group restated a “reiterates” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, June 29th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $580.93.

View Our Latest Report on COST

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.6 %

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $564.96 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $554.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $525.30. Costco Wholesale has a 1 year low of $447.90 and a 1 year high of $572.18. The stock has a market cap of $250.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.90, a PEG ratio of 4.07 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.57.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 26th. The retailer reported $4.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.79 by $0.07. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.60% and a return on equity of 28.10%. The company had revenue of $78.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $77.72 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $4.20 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Costco Wholesale will post 15.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 25th were paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 24th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 28.81%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Aspire Private Capital LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth $20,406,948,000. Mach 1 Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth $22,359,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the second quarter worth $31,000. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the second quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the second quarter worth $38,000. 66.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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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