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 1, 2024, we had 10,471 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 2024 (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 13—June 9, 2024 66,000 $ 806.79 66,000 $ 3,026
June 10—July 7, 2024 46,000 854.00 46,000 2,987
July 8—August 4, 2024 55,000 828.14 55,000 2,941
August 5—September 1, 2024 88,000 865.39 88,000 2,865
Total fourth quarter 255,000 $ 840.12 255,000
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(1) Our share repurchase program is conducted under a $4,000 authorization approved by our Board of Directors in January 2023, which expires in January 2027.
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, and the S&P Retail Select Index over the five years from September 1, 2019, through September 1, 2024. The S&P Retail Select Index comprises stocks in the S&P Total Market Index that are classified in the GICS Apparel Retail, Automotive Retail, Broadline Retail, Computer & Electronic Retail, Consumer Staples Merchandise Retail, Drug Retail, Food Retailers and Other Specialty Retail sub-industries.
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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
2024 29 $ 170
2023 23 $ 151 166
2022 23 $ 150 158 179
2021 20 $ 140 158 172 187
2020 13 $ 132 152 184 193 215
2019 20 $ 129 138 172 208 216 226
2018 21 $ 116 119 141 172 202 214 231
2017 26 $ 121 142 158 176 206 237 247 262
2016 29 $ 87 97 118 131 145 173 204 212 222
2015 & Before 686 $ 162 162 168 181 189 199 225 256 266 276
Totals 890 $ 162 $ 159 $ 163 $ 176 $ 182 $ 192 $ 217 $ 245 $ 252 $ 260
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
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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