Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Increases Dividend to $1.30 Per Share

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, April 16th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be given a dividend of 1.30 per share by the retailer on Friday, May 16th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 2nd. This is a 12.1% increase from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16.

Costco Wholesale has raised its dividend payment by an average of 13.6% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 21 years. Costco Wholesale has a payout ratio of 23.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Costco Wholesale to earn $19.69 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 23.6%.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 2.8 %

Shares of COST stock traded up $26.75 on Friday, hitting $994.50. The stock had a trading volume of 2,705,128 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,016,146. Costco Wholesale has a one year low of $706.17 and a one year high of $1,078.24. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $975.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $952.83. The company has a market cap of $441.24 billion, a PE ratio of 58.40, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $4.09 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $63.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. Research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total transaction of $1,034,011.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,495,211.65. The trade was a 8.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total transaction of $3,351,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 41,077 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $38,242,687. The trade was a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 5,600 shares of company stock valued at $5,215,915. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Costco Wholesale stock. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 13.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,123 shares of the retailer's stock after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,029,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on COST shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,045.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Cfra Research raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,024.03.

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.