Costco has declared a $30-per-share special dividend for shareholders of record Nov. 24, while the likely final date to qualify remains an estimate based on Nasdaq’s standard timetable.
The company said its board declared the dividend Tuesday, Nov. 10, and estimates the payment will total about $13.3 billion. Payment is scheduled for Dec. 4 to shareholders listed at the close of business Nov. 24.
Nasdaq Rule 11140 generally aligns the ex-dividend date with the record date for a cash distribution worth less than one-quarter of a share’s value, provided notice arrives sufficiently early. Costco shares closed at $1,066.14 on Nov. 10, making the $30 payment about 2.8% of that price. Applying the threshold and T+1 settlement points to Nov. 24 as the likely ex-dividend date and Nov. 23 as the likely final purchase date.
Under T+1, most broker-dealer transactions settle one business day after a trade. Nasdaq’s T+1 cycle took effect May 28, 2024; on the projected schedule, a Nov. 23 trade would settle on the estimated ex-dividend date. Costco’s announcement and SEC filing do not name an ex-dividend date, so the Nov. 23 cutoff is inferred from Nasdaq’s rule rather than confirmed by the company.
The board also reauthorized a common-stock repurchase program of up to $4 billion, expiring in November 2030. It replaces a 2023 authorization that was due to expire in January 2027. Costco said it had bought $3.1 billion in shares under that earlier program.
The new special payout is twice the $15 dividend Costco paid in January 2024. Costco paid special dividends of $7 per share in 2012 and $5 per share in 2015. The special distribution is separate from a $1.47 quarterly dividend due Friday, Nov. 13, to shareholders of record Oct. 30.
