William Blair Issues Optimistic Estimate for COST Earnings

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) – Investment analysts at William Blair lifted their Q3 2025 earnings estimates for Costco Wholesale in a report released on Wednesday, April 9th. William Blair analyst P. Blee now expects that the retailer will post earnings per share of $4.18 for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $4.04. The consensus estimate for Costco Wholesale’s current full-year earnings is $18.03 per share.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,035.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $975.00 target price for the company. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,024.03.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST opened at $979.32 on Monday. Costco Wholesale has a 12-month low of $702.00 and a 12-month high of $1,078.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $434.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.51, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.95. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $981.61 and a 200-day moving average of $950.46.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.09 by ($0.07). Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. The firm had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.02 billion.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Regatta Capital Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.2% in the first quarter. Regatta Capital Group LLC now owns 5,718 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,408,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. Parisi Gray Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 10.1% in the 1st quarter. Parisi Gray Wealth Management now owns 6,554 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,199,000 after buying an additional 602 shares in the last quarter. Tounjian Advisory Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter valued at $3,093,000. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 17.2% during the 1st quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 12,270 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $11,605,000 after acquiring an additional 1,800 shares during the period. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 16.9% during the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 9,704 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $9,261,000 after acquiring an additional 1,402 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total transaction of $830,304.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. The trade was a 11.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total transaction of $1,034,011.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 11,165 shares in the company, valued at $10,495,211.65. This represents a 8.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 5,600 shares of company stock worth $5,215,915. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.09%.

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.