Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $1.16

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, April 10th, RTT News reports. Shareholders 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 0.64%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02.

Costco Wholesale has raised its dividend payment by an average of 12.9% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 21 years. Costco Wholesale has a payout ratio of 26.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities 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 Performance

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $722.68 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.93. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $730.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $664.04. The company has a market capitalization of $320.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.26, a PEG ratio of 4.76 and a beta of 0.77. Costco Wholesale has a fifty-two week low of $476.75 and a fifty-two week high of $787.08.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 12,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,967,534.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,727 shares of company stock worth $2,682,948. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on COST. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $601.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $800.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $795.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $694.48.

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.