Corient IA LLC Buys Shares of 500 Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Corient IA LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 500 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $463,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 19,825 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $18,165,000 after purchasing an additional 2,172 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,029,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,853 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,814,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the period. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 2,110 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,089,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Finally, United Bank lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 5,846 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,787,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting Costco Wholesale

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

• Positive Sentiment: Upcoming Q2 earnings after the close on March 5 — analysts expect another beat and technical indicators are bullish, making the report the main near-term catalyst for the stock. Should You Buy Costco Stock (COST) ahead of Q2 Earnings?
• Positive Sentiment: Preview commentary and data point to another strong quarter (monthly sales and membership trends), and analysts note a chance Costco can highlight favorable effects from the recent tariff ruling. Costco Q2 Preview: Will Retailer Celebrate Tariff Ruling?
• Positive Sentiment: Positive media and analyst attention (predictions of a post-earnings surge, momentum stories) are keeping investor interest and buying interest elevated ahead of the print. Prediction: Costco Will Surge After March 5th
• Positive Sentiment: Ongoing expansion: multiple new-store openings and large real-estate deals (e.g., Viva White Oak) support long-term growth and membership roll-ups. Costco signs on for Viva White Oak project in Montgomery County
• Neutral Sentiment: Valuation debate: coverage questions whether COST has “run too far” after strong YTD gains — this raises profit-taking risk even if fundamentals remain healthy. Has Costco Wholesale (COST) Run Too Far?
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst deep-dives and metric-level previews (Zacks, MarketBeat) are setting expectations for comps, traffic and membership metrics — useful for trading around the print but not directional until results land. Curious about Costco (COST) Q2 Performance?
• Negative Sentiment: Customer/PR noise and policy confusion (return policy coverage) could create short-term reputation headwinds and modest consumer pushback. Costco members confused over return policy rule
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data posted in some feeds is inconsistent/zeroed and is not a reliable current signal for days-to-cover or directional pressure. (Ignore noisy short-interest entries until cleaner data is released.)

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 1,500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Friday, January 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $916.32, for a total transaction of $1,374,480.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 8,240 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,550,476.80. The trade was a 15.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP James C. Klauer sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $939.00, for a total value of $1,408,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 44,837 shares in the company, valued at $42,101,943. The trade was a 3.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 6,915 shares of company stock valued at $6,317,097. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COST has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,033.00 to $926.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 12th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $1,000.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Bank of America began coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, February 27th. They set a “buy” rating and a $1,185.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, HSBC cut their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,045.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 12th. Twenty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,016.18.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

NASDAQ COST opened at $1,006.74 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1 year low of $844.06 and a 1 year high of $1,067.08. The company has a market cap of $446.86 billion, a PE ratio of 53.92, a PEG ratio of 4.83 and a beta of 1.01. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $956.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $935.59.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 11th. The retailer reported $4.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.27 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $67.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $67.03 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.96% and a return on equity of 29.35%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.04 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 30th were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 30th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 27.85%.

Costco Wholesale Company Profile

Costco Wholesale Corporation operates a global chain of membership-only warehouse clubs that sell a wide array of merchandise in bulk at discounted prices. The company’s product mix includes groceries, fresh and frozen food, household goods, electronics, apparel, and seasonal items, augmented by its prominent private-label brand, Kirkland Signature. Costco’s business model centers on annual membership fees and high-volume, low-margin sales, designed to drive repeat purchasing and strong customer loyalty among both consumers and small-business buyers.

Beyond merchandise, Costco provides a range of ancillary services that complement its warehouses, including gasoline stations, pharmacy and optical services, hearing aid centers, photo services, and travel and insurance products.