Zacks Research Expects Higher Earnings for Costco Wholesale

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) - Investment analysts at Zacks Research raised their Q1 2026 EPS estimates for Costco Wholesale in a report issued on Wednesday, March 26th. Zacks Research analyst S. Singh now forecasts that the retailer will post earnings per share of $4.23 for the quarter, up from their prior estimate of $4.21. The consensus estimate for Costco Wholesale's current full-year earnings is $18.03 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Costco Wholesale's Q2 2026 earnings at $4.44 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $4.68 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $19.75 EPS, Q1 2027 earnings at $4.60 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $21.45 EPS.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Roth Mkm raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $755.00 to $907.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Barclays increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,145.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,029.00.

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Costco Wholesale Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:COST traded down $9.09 during trading on Friday, reaching $929.66. The stock had a trading volume of 2,099,737 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,941,143. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $988.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $946.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Costco Wholesale has a one year low of $697.27 and a one year high of $1,078.24. The company has a market capitalization of $412.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.59, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 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 analysts' expectations of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth approximately $8,430,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,662 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $7,020,000 after acquiring an additional 1,001 shares in the last quarter. Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at $984,000. Stanich Group LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth $214,000. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 15.4% during the 4th quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,913 shares of the retailer's stock worth $10,916,000 after purchasing an additional 1,590 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total transaction of $3,351,600.00. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 5,600 shares of company stock valued at $5,215,915. Corporate 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. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio is presently 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.