How to Buy Costco Stock
Costco Wholesale Corp
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.
Costco stock last closed at $787.04, up 1.17% from the previous day, and has increased 56.77% in one year. It has overperformed other stocks in the Discount Stores industry by 0.42 percentage points. Costco stock is currently +65.08% from its 52-week low of $476.75, and -0.33% from its 52-week high of $789.66.
At the moment, there are 443.5M COST shares outstanding. The market capitalization of COST is $349.06B. In the past 24 hours, 1.57M COST shares were traded.
How to Buy Costco Stock
Not sure how to invest in Costco stock? Here's how.
- Figure out where to buy Costco stock: You need to choose a stock brokerage, but don't worry - we've researched dozens of online stock brokerages and apps to help you choose where to buy Costco stock.
- Create a brokerage account: Sign up for 0% fee trading with the highest-rated brokerage we've selected.
- Deposit money your investment account: Pick your payment method and add your information.
- Research Costco stock: The Costco ticker symbol is COST. Is Costco stock a good investment? Should you buy shares of COST? How do COST's underlying business fundamentals look? Do top analysts think Costco is a good buy? Why has COST's stock price moved recently? (Hint: Our stock market research tools can help you figure out if COST is a good stock to buy).
- Execute your COST buy order: Decide if you will purchase COST shares at the current market price or use a limit order to purchase COST stock at a specific price.
- Watch your investment in COST: Create a watchlist to keep track of your new investment in Costco shares.
Step 1: Figure out where to buy Costco stock
You will need an online brokerage account to access the NASDAQ market and buy COST stock.
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Open eToro AccountStep 2: Create a brokerage account
Now that you've selected the right brokerage, you need to fill out some personal details so you can buy COST today.
How to Set Up a New Brokerage Account on eToro
- Click here to get started.eToro is a multi-asset investment platform. The value of your investments may go up or down. Your capital is at risk.
- Provide your personal details to start your new brokerage account.
- Send your application by clicking the "Create Account" button. Get started with eToro today
Step 3: Deposit money your investment account
Now that you've opened your account on the stock trading app, you can securely and quickly fund your account:
Check out this video walkthrough if you need help transferring money into your brokerage account.
Step 4: Research Costco stock
Once you have decided on the best place to buy Costco stock, it's absolutely critical to research their stock before you buy, so you truly wrap your head around the risk as well as the upside.
Costco quick stats
COST Overview
WallStreetZen was designed to help part-time investors do better fundamental analysis in less time.
You can view all of the due diligence checks on COST's stock page.
Is COST stock overvalued?
You can use many financial metrics, analyses, models, and charts to gauge COST's true value.
Using relative valuations measures:
- COST could be overvalued based on its P/E ratio of 51.37x, relative to Discount Stores industry P/E ratio of 35.12x
- COST could be overvalued based on its P/B ratio of 16.81x, relative to Discount Stores industry P/B ratio of 7.2x
- COST could be overvalued based on its PEG ratio of 11.47x
You can do additional valuation analysis on COST's stock here.
COST Financial Health Overview
Pros:
- COST earnings of $9.25B is not sufficient to cover its interest payments.
- COST's operating cash flow of $10.65B allows it to safely service it's debt of $9.43B.
- COST profit margin has gone up from 2.6% to 2.7% in the past year.
- There are more short-term assets than long-term liabilities on the COST balance sheet.
Cons:
- Total COST debt is higher than 5 years ago, relative to shareholder equity.
- COST has a relatively high debt to equity ratio of 2.2.
- There are more short-term liabilities than short-term assets on the COST balance sheet.
Is it a good time to buy Costco stock, according to analysts?
Out of 19 sell side analysts who track COST, the consensus analyst rating on Costco is a Buy
It's important to keep in mind that analyst forecasts are not stock recommendations, nor are they financial advice.
Latest COST Analyst Recommendations
Bill Kirk, a bottom 9% analyst from Roth MKM maintains COST with a hold rating and raises their COST price target from $601.00 to $650.00, on Apr 11, 2024.
Chuck Grom, a top 11% analyst from Gordon Haskett downgrades COST to a buy rating and announces their COST price target of $775.00, on Apr 3, 2024.
Ivan Feinseth, a top 7% analyst from Tigress Financial maintains COST with a buy rating and raises their COST price target from $745.00 to $870.00, on Mar 15, 2024.
Kelly Bania, a top 15% analyst from BMO Capital maintains COST with a buy rating and raises their COST price target from $770.00 to $800.00, on Mar 11, 2024.
Seth Sigman, a bottom 1% analyst from Barclays maintains COST with a hold rating and raises their COST price target from $614.00 to $700.00, on Mar 11, 2024.
Barclays's Seth Sigman raised their price target on Costco (NASDAQ: COST) by 14% from $614 to $700 on 2024/03/11. The analyst maintained their Hold rating on the stock.
In an assessment of Costco's 2024/03/07-dated Q2 and 1H 2024 earnings report, Sigman said the quarter was "solid overall" in spite of lower-than-expected sales and gross margin in 2024/02.
Increases in both traffic and membership gave credence to Barclay's revised estimate increases, the analyst told investors.
However, Sigman cautioned that the stock is now priced "too high," so they are "sitting on the sidelines."
Earnings Report
Costco reported:
For Q2 2024:
- EPS of $3.71, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.60 and, by 12.4%, Q2 2023’s $3.30.
- Revenue of $57.33B, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $59.2B but beat, by 5.7%, Q2 2023’s $54.24B.
For 1H 2024:
- EPS of $7.49, up 17.6% Y/Y.
- Revenue of $114.05B, up 5.9% Y/Y.
Management did not provide financial guidance in its press release or earnings call.
CFO Richard Galanti commented: “We always want to be the first out there trying to lower prices.
“Many new items in sporting goods and lawn and garden are being set with lower prices Y/Y, and overall, mostly due to reduced freight costs and lower commodity costs versus a year ago. And overall, our inventories and SKUs are in good shape across all channels. Overall, we’ve had good seasonal sell-through during the quarter.
“In terms of shipping and supply chain issues, we’ve been asked about them often. There are some delays, generally just a couple to three weeks, but mostly now planned for. First, there was an issue a while back with the Panama Canal challenges. Then, of course, the Red Sea challenges. Much of that has to do with changing how ships are routed.
“Since going public in 1985/12, I have hosted all but one call and it’s been an absolute privilege and honor to do so. So, thank you all. As you know, in early February, it was announced that I will be ceding the role of CFO to Gary Millerchip effective 2024/03/15 after our second quarter 10-Q is filed, and retire, including from our Board, next January.
“The good news, Gary joined Costco last week, and along with David and Josh, will continue to provide to you all with the transparency and straightforwardness that we are known for. It will be a positive and seamless transition.”
You can dig deeper into what analysts are projecting on the Costco stock forecast page.
COST Technical Indicators
COST Growth Numbers
Last year, COST earnings were $6.79B. Over the past five year, COST's earnings have grown by 14.28% per year. This was slower than the Discount Stores industry average of 16.35%.
Last year, COST revenue was $248.83B. In the past 5 year, COST's revenue has increased by 11.06% per year. This was faster than the Discount Stores industry average of 7.76%.
You can analyze COST's earnings and revenue performance here.
Are COST insiders buying or selling the stock?
Over the past year, executives and large shareholders at COST have sold more shares than they have bought.
Russell D. Miller, Senior EVP of COST, was the latest COST insider to sell. They sold $567,442.75 worth of COST shares on Apr 17, 2024.
Research more about who owns COST stock here.
Does COST provide a stable income stream?
Costco pays a dividend of 2.44%, compared to the Discount Stores industry's average dividend yield of 2.12%. If you owned $1,000 worth of COST stock, you would have received $24.42 in the past year.
Costco dividend payments have consistently grown over the past decade but have not remained stable.
Dig into more info about Costco dividend yield and history here.
What do other traders have to say about COST?
One of the primary reasons eToro is our highest-rated brokerage is because of its social trading community.
Click below to see what other traders have to say.
Step 5: Execute your COST buy order
There are two main order types:
- Market order: A market order is an order to buy or sell a stock at the best available price.
Market orders are generally sufficient. - Limit order: A limit order lets you buy or sell a security at a specific price (or better).
If you want to ensure you're buying or selling at a given price limit, place a limit order.
Hit the Open button and eToro will execute the order.
If you need additional assistance buying stocks on eToro, watch the how to video below:
Step 6: Watch your investment in COST
Now that you own some COST stock, you'll want to keep up with your investment.
Put COST on a watchlist to get notified of the latest news about your COST stock.
COST Feed
How to Buy Stock in Costco
To summarize, here are the 6 steps for buying Costco stock:
- Figure out where to buy Costco stock
- Create a brokerage account
- Deposit money your investment account
- Research Costco stock
- Execute your COST buy order
- Watch your investment in COST
If you need a online brokerage, eToro is our recommended venue.
Get Started with eToro TodayIf you would like to keep tabs on your new investment in Costco, create a watchlist today.
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