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 $495.27, up 1.54% from the previous day, and has decreased 11.26% in one year. It has underperformed other stocks in the Discount Stores industry by 0 percentage points. Costco stock is currently +21.83% from its 52-week low of $406.51, and -19.11% from its 52-week high of $612.27.
At the moment, there are 443.48M COST shares outstanding. The market capitalization of COST is $219.64B. In the past 24 hours, 1.63M 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.
- Provide your personal details to start your new brokerage account.
- Send your application by clicking the "Create Account" button.
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 36.34x, relative to Discount Stores industry P/E ratio of 31.74x
- COST could be overvalued based on its P/B ratio of 9.64x, relative to Discount Stores industry P/B ratio of 5.92x
- COST could be overvalued based on its PEG ratio of 4.29x
You can do additional valuation analysis on COST's stock here.
COST Financial Health Overview
Pros:
- COST's operating cash flow of $9.54B allows it to safely service it's debt of $9.14B.
- There are more short-term assets than long-term liabilities on the COST balance sheet.
- COST earnings of $8.22B is not sufficient to cover its interest payments.
- There are more short-term assets than short-term liabilities on the COST balance sheet.
- Total COST debt is lower than 5 years ago, relative to shareholder equity.
Cons:
- COST profit margin of X% has stayed the same in the past year.
- COST has a relatively high debt to equity ratio of 1.93.
Is it a good time to buy Costco stock, according to analysts?
Out of 22 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
Chuck Cerankosky, a top 26% analyst from Northcoast Research upgrades COST to a strong buy rating and announces their COST price target of $560.00, on Mar 7, 2023.
Cerankosky upgraded Costco Wholesale Corporation from Hold to Strong Buy with a $560 price target following the release of the company's Q2 2023 earnings report on 2023/03/02.
Notwithstanding the challenges of high inflation and many consumers' reluctance to purchase discretionary goods, the company reported a Q2 beat and "set the stage" for a strong 2H 2023, the analyst told investors.
Cerankosky said he thinks that Costco's "strong" value proposition in everything from consumables to housewares to gasoline "not only allows it to retain its many loyal members but also attract new ones."
Also, the analyst said he believes that 2023 will set the company up for "another stage of overall market share gains."
Furthermore, an "impeccable balance sheet" allows for a special dividend of at least $10 per share, as well as additional share repurchases in the next 12 to 24 months, Cerankosky noted.
For Q2 2023, Costco reported:
- EPS of $3.30, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.20 and, by 13%, Q2 2022’s $2.92.
- Revenue of $55.27B, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $55.64B and, by 6.5%, Q2 2022’s $51.9B.
- Currently operates 848 warehouses, including 584 in the U.S. and Puerto Rico.
Management did not provide guidance or comment in the press release.
Simeon Gutman, a bottom 1% analyst from Morgan Stanley maintains COST with a strong buy rating and lowers their COST price target from $525.00 to $520.00, on Mar 3, 2023.
Peter Benedict, a top 17% analyst from Baird maintains COST with a buy rating and lowers their COST price target from $575.00 to $535.00, on Mar 3, 2023.
Joe Feldman, a top 11% analyst from Telsey Advisory Group maintains COST with a buy rating and lowers their COST price target from $580.00 to $540.00, on Mar 3, 2023.
Seth Sigman, a top 9% analyst from Barclays initiates coverage on COST with a hold rating and announces their COST price target of $510.00, on Feb 8, 2023.
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 $6.05B. Over the past five year, COST's earnings have grown by 15.09% per year. This was faster than the Discount Stores industry average of 8.69%.
Last year, COST revenue was $234.39B. In the past 5 year, COST's revenue has increased by 11.51% per year. This was faster than the Discount Stores industry average of 7.11%.
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.
Richard A. Galanti, Executive VP and CFO of COST, was the latest COST insider to sell. They sold $999,505.76 worth of COST shares on Mar 14, 2023.
Research more about who owns COST stock here.
Does COST provide a stable income stream?
Costco pays a dividend of 0.73%, compared to the Discount Stores industry's average dividend yield of 3.28%. If you owned $1,000 worth of COST stock, you would have received $7.27 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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