William Blair Issues Positive Forecast for COST Earnings

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) – Analysts at William Blair increased their Q2 2025 earnings per share estimates for Costco Wholesale in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, February 5th. William Blair analyst P. Blee now anticipates that the retailer will post earnings of $4.46 per share for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $4.39. The consensus estimate for Costco Wholesale’s current full-year earnings is $18.01 per share.

COST has been the subject of several other reports. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,075.00 price target (up from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Citigroup upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Loop Capital upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,005.00 to $1,095.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,021.93.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of COST stock opened at $1,043.81 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The stock has a market cap of $463.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 61.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.84 and a beta of 0.84. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $959.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $912.64. Costco Wholesale has a 1 year low of $697.27 and a 1 year high of $1,063.00.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 27.25%.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 32.6% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 68,976 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $63,200,000 after purchasing an additional 16,967 shares during the period. Summit X LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 32.0% during the 4th quarter. Summit X LLC now owns 619 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $567,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 12,223 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $11,199,000 after acquiring an additional 1,021 shares during the period. Bender Robert & Associates grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Bender Robert & Associates now owns 1,482 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,358,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. Finally, Prosperity Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Prosperity Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,260 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,987,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.