Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity
Item 5—Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
Market Information and Dividend Policy
Our common stock is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol “COST.” On October 3, 2023, we had 10,331 stockholders of record.
Payment of dividends is subject to declaration by the Board of Directors. Factors considered in determining dividends include our profitability and expected capital needs. Subject to these qualifications, we presently expect to continue to pay dividends on a quarterly basis.
Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
The following table sets forth information on our common stock repurchase activity for the fourth quarter of 2023 (dollars in millions, except per share data):
Period Total Number of Shares Purchased Average Price Paid per Share Total Number of Shares Purchased as Part of Publicly Announced Program (1)
Maximum Dollar Value of Shares that May Yet be Purchased under the Program
May 8—June 4, 2023 107,000 $ 498.28 107,000 $ 3,740
June 5—July 2, 2023 102,000 523.05 102,000 3,687
July 3—July 30, 2023 97,000 548.20 97,000 3,634
July 31—September 3, 2023 127,000 550.58 127,000 3,563
Total fourth quarter 433,000 $ 530.67 433,000
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(1) The repurchase program is conducted under a $4,000 authorization approved by our Board of Directors in January 2023, which expires in January 2027. This authorization revoked previously authorized but unused amounts, totaling $2,568.
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Performance Graph
The following graph compares the cumulative total shareholder return assuming reinvestment of dividends on an investment of $100 in Costco common stock, S&P 500 Index, S&P Retail Select Index, and the previously selected S&P 500 Retail Index over the five years from September 2, 2018, through September 3, 2023. The S&P Retail Select Index will prospectively replace in the graph the S&P 500 Retail Index to show a broader representation of industry performance and a broader index of peers.
The following graph provides information concerning average sales per warehouse over a 10-year period.
Average Sales Per Warehouse*
(Sales In Millions)
Year Opened # of Whses
2023 23 $ 151
2022 23 $ 150 158
2021 20 $ 140 158 172
2020 13 $ 132 152 184 193
2019 20 $ 129 138 172 208 216
2018 21 $ 116 119 141 172 202 214
2017 26 $ 121 142 158 176 206 237 247
2016 29 $ 87 97 118 131 145 173 204 212
2015 23 $ 83 85 94 112 122 136 163 189 199
2014 & Before 663 $ 164 165 165 170 184 191 201 228 259 268
Totals 861 $ 164 $ 162 $ 159 $ 163 $ 176 $ 182 $ 192 $ 217 $ 245 $ 252
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Fiscal Year
*First year sales annualized.
2017 and 2023 were 53-week fiscal years but have been normalized for purposes of comparability
Item 6—Reserved
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