
Costco Wholesale (COST) is a leading discount stores business based in the US. It opened the day at $514.44 after a previous close of $514.80. During the day the price has varied from a low of $512.27 to a high of $517.22. The latest price was $515.59 (25 minute delay). Costco Wholesale is listed on the NASDAQ and employs 304,000 staff. All prices are listed in US Dollars.
How to buy Costco Wholesale stock
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- Search for the stock name – COST. Search for the stock by name or ticker symbol.
- Buy the stock. Place your order. It's that simple.
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What's in this guide?
- COST shares summary
- Compare share dealing platforms
- Is COST stock a buy or sell?
- Stock performance over time
- Is COST suitable for ethical investing?
- Are COST shares over-valued?
- Costco Wholesale's financials
- How volatile are COST shares?
- Does Costco Wholesale pay a dividend?
- Have COST shares ever split?
- Other common questions
How has coronavirus impacted Costco Wholesale's share price?
Since the stock market crash in March caused by coronavirus, Costco Wholesale's share price has had significant positive movement.
Its last close price was $515.59, which is 37.56% up on its pre-crash value of $321.95 and 90.06% up on the lowest point reached during the March crash when the shares fell as low as $271.28.
If you had bought $1,000 worth of Costco Wholesale shares at the start of February 2020, those shares would have been worth $945.10 at the bottom of the March crash, and if you held on to them, then as of the last market close they'd be worth $1.00.
Costco Wholesale stock price (NASDAQ: COST)
Use our graph to track the performance of COST stocks over time.Costco Wholesale shares at a glance
Open | $514.44 |
---|---|
High | $517.22 |
Low | $512.27 |
Close | $515.59 |
Previous close | $514.80 |
Change | $0.79 |
Change % | 0.1535% |
Volume | 1,739,144 |
52-week range | $405.08 - $609.12 |
---|---|
50-day moving average | $487.34 |
200-day moving average | $499.97 |
Wall St. target price | $550.77 |
PE ratio | 38.6349 |
Dividend yield | $3.49 (0.72%) |
Earnings per share (TTM) | $13.23 |
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Is it a good time to buy Costco Wholesale stock?
The technical analysis gauge below displays real-time ratings for the timeframes you select. This is not a recommendation, however. It represents a technical analysis based on the most popular technical indicators: Moving Averages, Oscillators and Pivots. Finder might not concur and takes no responsibility.
This chart is not advice or a guarantee of success. Rather, it gauges the real-time recommendations of three popular technical indicators: moving averages, oscillators and pivots. Finder is not responsible for how your stock performs.
Costco Wholesale price performance over time
Historical closes compared with the close of $515.59 from 2023-02-03
1 week (2023-01-31) | 0.87% |
---|---|
1 month (2023-01-03) | N/A |
3 months (2022-11-07) | 5.53% |
6 months (2022-08-03) | N/A |
1 year (2022-02-07) | -0.06% |
---|---|
2 years (2021-02-05) | 45.75% |
3 years (2020-02-07) | 71.33% |
5 years (2018-02-07) | 202.02% |
Is Costco Wholesale stock undervalued or overvalued?
Valuing Costco Wholesale stock is incredibly difficult, and any metric has to be viewed as part of a bigger picture of Costco Wholesale's overall performance. However, analysts commonly use some key metrics to help gauge the value of a stock.
Costco Wholesale's P/E ratio
Costco Wholesale's current share price divided by its per-share earnings (EPS) over a 12-month period gives a "trailing price/earnings ratio" of roughly 39x. In other words, Costco Wholesale shares trade at around 39x recent earnings.
That's relatively high compared to, say, the trailing 12-month P/E ratio for the NASDAQ 100 at the end of 2019 (27.29). The high P/E ratio could mean that investors are optimistic about the outlook for the shares or simply that they're over-valued.
Costco Wholesale's PEG ratio
Costco Wholesale's "price/earnings-to-growth ratio" can be calculated by dividing its P/E ratio by its growth – to give 3.4326. A low ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer better value, while a higher ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer worse value.
The PEG ratio provides a broader view than just the P/E ratio, as it gives more insight into Costco Wholesale's future profitability. By accounting for growth, it could also help you if you're comparing the share prices of multiple high-growth companies.
Costco Wholesale's EBITDA
Costco Wholesale's EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) is $9.6 billion.
The EBITDA is a measure of a Costco Wholesale's overall financial performance and is widely used to measure a its profitability.
Costco Wholesale financials
Revenue TTM | $231 billion |
---|---|
Operating margin TTM | 3.35% |
Gross profit TTM | $27.6 billion |
Return on assets TTM | 7.43% |
Return on equity TTM | 29.32% |
Profit margin | 2.55% |
Book value | $48.38 |
Market capitalisation | $226.8 billion |
TTM: trailing 12 months
Costco Wholesale share dividends
Dividend payout ratio: 22.29% of net profits
Recently Costco Wholesale has paid out, on average, around 22.29% of net profits as dividends. That has enabled analysts to estimate a "forward annual dividend yield" of 0.72% of the current stock value. This means that over a year, based on recent payouts (which are sadly no guarantee of future payouts), Costco Wholesale shareholders could enjoy a 0.72% return on their shares, in the form of dividend payments. In Costco Wholesale's case, that would currently equate to about $3.49 per share.
While Costco Wholesale's payout ratio might seem low, this can signify that Costco Wholesale is investing more in its future growth.
Costco Wholesale's most recent dividend payout was on 16 February 2023. The latest dividend was paid out to all shareholders who bought their shares by 1 February 2023 (the "ex-dividend date").
Have Costco Wholesale's shares ever split?
Costco Wholesale's shares were split on a 2:1 basis on 13 January 2000. So if you had owned 1 share the day before before the split, the next day you'd have owned 2 shares. This wouldn't directly have changed the overall worth of your Costco Wholesale shares – just the quantity. However, indirectly, the new 50% lower share price could have impacted the market appetite for Costco Wholesale shares which in turn could have impacted Costco Wholesale's share price.
Costco Wholesale share price volatility
Over the last 12 months, Costco Wholesale's shares have ranged in value from as little as $405.0783 up to $609.1226. A popular way to gauge a stock's volatility is its "beta".
Beta is a measure of a share's volatility in relation to the market. The market (NASDAQ average) beta is 1, while Costco Wholesale's is 0.7611. This would suggest that Costco Wholesale's shares are less volatile than average (for this exchange).
Costco Wholesale overview
Costco Wholesale Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the operation of membership warehouses in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Japan, Korea, Australia, Spain, France, Iceland, China, and Taiwan. It offers branded and private-label products in a range of merchandise categories. The company offers sundries, dry groceries, candies, coolers, freezers, liquor, and tobacco and deli products; appliances, electronics, health and beauty aids, hardware, garden and patio products, sporting goods, tires, toys and seasonal products, office supplies, automotive care products, postages, tickets, apparel, small appliances, furniture, domestics, housewares, special order kiosks, and jewelry; and meat, produce, service deli, and bakery products. It also operates pharmacies, optical, food courts, hearing aids, and tire installation centers, as well as 668 gas stations; and offers online business delivery, travel, same-day grocery, and various other services. As of August 28, 2022, the company operated 838 membership warehouses, including 578 in the United States and Puerto Rico, 107 in Canada, 40 in Mexico, 31 in Japan, 29 in the United Kingdom, 17 in Korea, 14 in Taiwan, 13 in Australia, 4 in Spain, 1 in Iceland, 2 in France, and 2 in China. It also operates e-commerce websites in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Korea, Taiwan, Japan, and Australia. The company was formerly known as Costco Companies, Inc.
Frequently asked questions
What percentage of Costco Wholesale is owned by insiders or institutions?Currently 0.218% of Costco Wholesale shares are held by insiders and 70.273% by institutions. How many people work for Costco Wholesale?
Latest data suggests 304,000 work at Costco Wholesale. When does the fiscal year end for Costco Wholesale?
Costco Wholesale's fiscal year ends in August. Where is Costco Wholesale based?
Costco Wholesale's address is: 999 Lake Drive, Issaquah, WA, United States, 98027 What is Costco Wholesale's ISIN number?
Costco Wholesale's international securities identification number is: US22160K1051 What is Costco Wholesale's CUSIP number?
Costco Wholesale's Committee on Uniform Securities Identification Procedures number is: 74143W102
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