DA Davidson Predicts Stronger Earnings for Costco Wholesale

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) – Research analysts 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 expects that the retailer will post earnings per share of $18.31 for the year, up from their previous estimate of $17.80. DA Davidson has a “Neutral” rating and a $900.00 price objective 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 released 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. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 33.19% and a net margin of 2.93%. The company had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.91 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.86 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $876.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $1,016.00 price objective on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,075.00 target price (up previously from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $988.46.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST stock opened at $992.87 on Monday. Costco Wholesale has a 52-week low of $640.51 and a 52-week high of $1,008.25. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $929.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $887.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $439.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.02 and a beta of 0.82.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 10,379 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,712,000 after buying an additional 528 shares during the period. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 88.5% in the 2nd quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC now owns 62,756 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $53,342,000 after buying an additional 29,456 shares during the period. Riverstone Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 34.7% in the 2nd quarter. Riverstone Advisors LLC now owns 443 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $377,000 after buying an additional 114 shares during the period. Sunpointe LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. Sunpointe LLC now owns 716 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $609,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. Finally, SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,818 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,345,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $896.71, for a total value of $1,793,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,210 shares in the company, valued at $9,155,409.10. This represents a 16.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 owns 8,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,671,983.70. This represents a 27.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 11,016 shares of company stock valued at $9,826,115. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.25%.

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.