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

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 0.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 21 years. Costco Wholesale has a dividend 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

COST stock opened at $722.68 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $730.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $664.04. Costco Wholesale has a fifty-two week low of $476.75 and a fifty-two week high of $787.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $320.51 billion, a PE ratio of 47.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.76 and a beta of 0.77.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 value of $1,072,245.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total transaction of $1,072,245.00. Following 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,727 shares of company stock valued at $2,682,948. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on COST shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Roth Mkm lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $601.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $795.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.