The giant retailer's stock valuation is near an all-time high. Costco faces competitive threats from Walmart and other peers. Still, it should continue to reward investors with above-average returns.
The market has high expectations of Costco, because it's delivered so reliably for such a long time, and because it still has so much more potential. The risk is that at this valuation, the stock could fall as soon as there's any imperfection.
The growth gap narrows
Costco's revenues rose 46% in the three-year period from fiscal year 2019 to 2022. Walmart's top-line growth stopped at 14.5% over that time span. But things have changed, and the two companies have shown very similar sales growth in the last two years.
Costco is expanding and has announced six new locations scheduled to open in early 2025. The membership warehouse giant will surpass more than 900 locations worldwide with the new additions, which are scheduled to open in March 2025.
There's a chance that Costco will split its stock before it gets to $1,000. So while the value will theoretically be there, in actual price per share, it wouldn't. On a split-adjusted basis, one Costco share was worth $1.67 at the initial public offering price.
Bill Gates Costco Wholesale Corp
The first Costco Wholesale trade was made in Q3 2002. Since then Bill Gates bought shares ten more times and sold shares on four occasions. The investor sold all their shares in Q4 2012 and doesn't own any shares in Costco Wholesale anymore.
Costco has 14.73% upside potential, based on the analysts' average price target. Is COST a Buy, Sell or Hold? Costco has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy which is based on 17 buy ratings, 8 hold ratings and 0 sell ratings.
According to the latest TipRanks data, approximately 59.81% of Costco (COST) stock is held by retail investors. Vanguard owns the most shares of Costco (COST).
The average wage at Costco is $17 an hour. Wal-Mart does not break out the pay of its Sam's Club workers, but a full-time worker at Wal-Mart makes $10.11 an hour on average, and a variety of sources suggest that Sam's Club's pay scale is similar to Wal-Mart's.
Costco Stock Forecast
The 26 analysts with 12-month price forecasts for Costco stock have an average target of 1,000, with a low estimate of 700 and a high estimate of 1,175. The average target predicts an increase of 8.17% from the current stock price of 924.70.
As mentioned before, despite its recession-resistant business, Costco did not escape the effects of the financial crisis. In fiscal 2009 (ended Aug. 30, 2009), its net sales of $70 billion fell by almost 2% from year-ago levels.
Ten Year Stock Price Total Return for Costco Wholesale is calculated as follows: Last Close Price [ 936.94 ] / Adj Prior Close Price [ 115.47 ] (-) 1 (=) Total Return [ 711.4% ] Prior price dividend adjustment factor is 0.81.
2 Wall Street research analysts have issued "buy," "hold," and "sell" ratings for Kirkland's in the last year. There is currently 1 hold rating and 1 buy rating for the stock. The consensus among Wall Street research analysts is that investors should "moderate buy" KIRK shares.
Warren Buffett Costco Wholesale Corp
The first Costco Wholesale trade was made in Q2 2000. Since then Warren Buffett bought shares nine more times and sold shares on nine occasions.
United States and China
Costco is the largest member-owned warehouse chain in the United States. Founded in Seattle, Washington, in 1983, Costco has 833 stores worldwide.
Is Costco affiliated with Target like Walmart is with Sams Club? Yes. They're all owned by the same people. Almost every corporation in America is owned by the same people.
An investor who bought $1,000 worth of Costco stock at the IPO in 1986 would have. The all-time high Costco stock closing price was 994.69 on December 11, 2024. The Costco 52-week high stock price is 1008.25, which is 7.6% above the current share price.
Yes, Costco Wholesale offers stock options to eligible employees. Employees may be eligible to receive Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) after meeting certain criteria.
Perhaps the top reason to buy Costco stock like there's no tomorrow (despite its frothy price) is that the company's results speak for themselves. With the exception of the economic fallout of 2008's subprime mortgage meltdown, this retailer's revenue has grown every quarter for the past few decades.
Bill Gates and his ex-wife Melinda are Roman Catholic. They have said that religious morality is the inspiration for their charity work.
Largest shareholders include Vanguard Group Inc, BlackRock, Inc., State Street Corp, VTSMX - Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund Investor Shares, VFINX - Vanguard 500 Index Fund Investor Shares, Geode Capital Management, Llc, Morgan Stanley, Fmr Llc, Invesco Qqq Trust, Series 1, and Bank Of America Corp /de/ .