530 Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Shares Acquired by Gradient Investments LLC

Gradient Investments LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.9% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 28,115 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 530 shares during the quarter. Gradient Investments LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $25,595,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the second quarter worth $6,781,946,000. Diamant Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 99,278.0% during the 1st quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,726,899 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $672,690,000 after purchasing an additional 6,720,130 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 31.7% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,901,594 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $22,359,224,000 after buying an additional 5,749,362 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 838.9% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 6,125,405 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,282,182,000 after buying an additional 5,472,968 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,362,188,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Costco Wholesale this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Costco reported September net sales of $30.02 billion, up 13.0% year over year. Comparable sales increased 12.5% in the U.S., 6.3% in Canada and 10.8% in other international markets, for total comparable growth of 11.4%. The results reinforce Costco’s strong customer traffic and membership-driven business model. Costco Wholesale Corporation Reports September Sales Results
• Positive Sentiment: International revenue remains an important growth driver. Analysts are monitoring Costco’s overseas performance because continued gains could support Wall Street’s revenue forecasts and provide room for further earnings growth. Costco International Revenue Performance Explored
• Positive Sentiment: Costco’s long-term investment case is supported by its reputation as a high-quality growth retailer, a history of dividend increases and potential expansion through new warehouses. Its cash accumulation has also prompted speculation about another special dividend, though no such payment has been announced. Costco Cash and Special Dividend Speculation
• Neutral Sentiment: September’s headline sales benefited from higher gasoline prices and foreign-exchange effects. One analyst also cautioned that some of the comparable-sales surge came from one-time, lower-margin factors, making the quality of the growth more important than the headline figure. Costco September Sales Analysis
• Negative Sentiment: Costco trades at a demanding valuation, with a P/E ratio above 45, leaving the stock vulnerable if margins weaken or sales growth normalizes. Tariffs, product costs and other margin pressures remain key risks. Separately, a lawsuit alleging misleading “sugar-free” labeling on a Kirkland drink mix could create limited reputational or legal exposure.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on COST. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, September 25th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $1,160.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,091.00 to $1,079.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Twenty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,046.27.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock traded up $5.88 on Thursday, hitting $948.13. The stock had a trading volume of 903,827 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,188,588. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a one year low of $844.06 and a one year high of $1,096.50. The stock has a market cap of $420.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.64, a PEG ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 0.88. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $930.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $963.67.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 24th. The retailer reported $6.75 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.54 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $95.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.97 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 3.04% and a return on equity of 27.60%. The firm’s revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.87 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 22.86 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 2,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $915.93, for a total transaction of $2,015,046.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 7,134 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,534,244.62. This represents a 23.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

About Costco Wholesale

Costco Wholesale Corporation operates a membership-based warehouse retail business under the Costco name. The company sells a broad selection of merchandise, including groceries, fresh foods, beverages, appliances, electronics, furniture, apparel, jewelry, hardware, and seasonal products. It also offers services such as gasoline, pharmacies, optical departments, hearing-aid centers, food courts, travel services, and business delivery in selected markets.

Costco markets many products under its private-label Kirkland Signature brand and sells merchandise through warehouse locations and e-commerce platforms.