William Blair Raises Earnings Estimates for Costco Wholesale

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) - Equities research analysts at William Blair upped their Q4 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Costco Wholesale in a report released on Wednesday, April 9th. William Blair analyst P. Blee now forecasts that the retailer will post earnings of $5.85 per share for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of $5.84. The consensus estimate for Costco Wholesale's current full-year earnings is $18.03 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Costco Wholesale's FY2026 earnings at $20.52 EPS.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $4.09 by ($0.07). Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. The business had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.02 billion.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on COST. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,024.03.

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Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST traded down $2.61 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $976.71. 872,990 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,002,284. The stock has a market capitalization of $433.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.35, 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. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $981.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $950.46. Costco Wholesale has a twelve month low of $702.00 and a twelve month high of $1,078.24.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is presently 27.09%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $38,242,687. This represents a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total value of $1,034,011.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,165 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,495,211.65. This trade represents a 8.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,600 shares of company stock worth $5,215,915 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Columbia Advisory Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.1% during the first quarter. Columbia Advisory Partners LLC now owns 1,573 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,488,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.9% in the first quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 2,689 shares of the retailer's stock worth $2,543,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.6% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,203,857 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,138,584,000 after buying an additional 135,085 shares during the last quarter. Rockingstone Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.4% during the first quarter. Rockingstone Advisors LLC now owns 3,268 shares of the retailer's stock worth $3,091,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kozak & Associates Inc. raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 20,327 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $19,906,000 after buying an additional 391 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

About Costco Wholesale

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.