Zacks Research Issues Positive Forecast for COST Earnings

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) – Research analysts at Zacks Research lifted their Q2 2025 earnings estimates for Costco Wholesale in a note issued to investors on Thursday, January 2nd. Zacks Research analyst S. Singh now expects that the retailer will post earnings per share of $4.02 for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $4.00. The consensus estimate for Costco Wholesale’s current full-year earnings is $17.83 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Costco Wholesale’s Q3 2025 earnings at $4.25 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $5.89 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $17.98 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $4.21 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $4.39 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $4.66 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $6.41 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $19.68 EPS, Q1 2027 earnings at $4.52 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $21.00 EPS.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on COST. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $1,016.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com cut shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Melius Research initiated coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $950.00 price objective for the company. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $909.00 to $935.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $990.00 to $1,030.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,013.59.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

COST opened at $916.58 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $406.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.82, a PEG ratio of 6.02 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a fifty day moving average of $943.38 and a 200 day moving average of $896.46. Costco Wholesale has a fifty-two week low of $640.51 and a fifty-two week high of $1,008.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.97.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Everence Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 15.4% in the 4th quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,913 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $10,916,000 after buying an additional 1,590 shares during the last quarter. Modus Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Modus Advisors LLC now owns 1,777 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,629,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 15.0% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,662 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,020,000 after buying an additional 1,001 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 32.6% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 627 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $575,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Peirce Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth approximately $332,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total transaction of $1,266,866.88. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 27,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,514,232. This trade represents a 4.91 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $896.71, for a total transaction of $1,793,420.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,210 shares in the company, valued at $9,155,409.10. This trade represents a 16.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 7,816 shares of company stock valued at $6,981,347. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 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.