Costco Wholesale Co. (COST) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $1.16 on May 10th

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, April 10th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th will be given a dividend of 1.16 per share by the retailer on Friday, May 10th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02.

Costco Wholesale has increased its dividend payment by an average of 12.9% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 21 consecutive years. Costco Wholesale has a payout ratio of 26.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Costco Wholesale to earn $17.36 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.64 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 26.7%.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $715.46 on Tuesday. Costco Wholesale has a 1 year low of $476.75 and a 1 year high of $787.08. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $730.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $662.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $317.31 billion, a PE ratio of 46.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.73 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.09. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 2.73%. The business had revenue of $58.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.30 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Costco Wholesale will post 15.84 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $680.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $800.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Gordon Haskett lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $691.28.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total value of $1,043,258.16. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 12,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,967,534.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total value of $1,043,258.16. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 12,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,967,534.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total transaction of $1,072,245.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at $4,785,786.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 3,727 shares of company stock valued at $2,682,948. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.