Zacks Research Has Optimistic Outlook of COST Q2 Earnings

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) – Equities research analysts at Zacks Research increased their Q2 2025 earnings per share estimates for shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note issued on Thursday, January 2nd. Zacks Research analyst S. Singh now anticipates that the retailer will post earnings of $4.02 per share for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of $4.00. The consensus estimate for Costco Wholesale’s current full-year earnings is $17.83 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Costco Wholesale’s Q3 2025 earnings at $4.25 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $5.89 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $17.98 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $4.21 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $4.39 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $4.66 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $6.41 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $19.68 EPS, Q1 2027 earnings at $4.52 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $21.00 EPS.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $1,065.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $840.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $860.00 to $890.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,013.59.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ:COST opened at $922.71 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $944.01 and its 200-day moving average is $897.06. Costco Wholesale has a 1-year low of $654.03 and a 1-year high of $1,008.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The stock has a market cap of $409.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.02 and a beta of 0.84.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is 27.25%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total value of $1,266,866.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,514,232. This represents a 4.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $896.71, for a total transaction of $1,793,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,155,409.10. The trade was a 16.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 7,816 shares of company stock worth $6,981,347 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Canandaigua National Trust Co of Florida purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at $244,000. Advance Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 47.2% during the fourth quarter. Advance Capital Management Inc. now owns 371 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $340,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 19,936 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $18,273,000 after purchasing an additional 550 shares during the last quarter. Iowa State Bank raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Iowa State Bank now owns 2,129 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,951,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Market Strategies LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Market Strategies LLC now owns 3,301 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,025,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.