Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Shares Sold by Coastline Trust Co

Coastline Trust Co decreased its position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 14.7% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,726 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,505 shares during the quarter. Coastline Trust Co’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $7,944,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 2nd quarter worth $6,781,946,000. Diamant Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 99,278.0% in the first quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,726,899 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $672,690,000 after purchasing an additional 6,720,130 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 31.7% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,901,594 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $22,359,224,000 after purchasing an additional 5,749,362 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 838.9% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 6,125,405 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,282,182,000 after buying an additional 5,472,968 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the second quarter worth $2,362,188,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 2,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $915.93, for a total value of $2,015,046.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 7,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,534,244.62. This represents a 23.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COST has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial reduced their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,011.00 to $955.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 25th. Freedom Broker cut their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,030.00 to $1,010.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 25th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,000.00 to $950.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 25th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,100.00 to $1,065.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 25th. Twenty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,046.27.

Key Stories Impacting Costco Wholesale

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

• Positive Sentiment: Costco’s fiscal fourth-quarter performance exceeded expectations: revenue rose 11.1% year over year to $95.72 billion and earnings reached $6.75 per share versus the $6.54 consensus estimate. Comparable sales increased 9.4% overall and 10.7% in the United States, driven by higher traffic and larger transaction sizes. Costco’s Sales Momentum Builds as Q4 Traffic and Ticket Rise
• Positive Sentiment: Investors continue to point to Costco’s membership-based model as a competitive advantage. Membership revenue rose about 11%, executive-member penetration reached a record, and strong renewal rates provide recurring cash flow to support digital growth and new warehouse expansion. Should You Buy, Hold or Sell Costco Stock After Its Q4 Earnings Beat?
• Positive Sentiment: Planned and ongoing Business Center projects in Texas and Kansas City, along with continued strength in fresh food, e-commerce and other ancillary businesses, reinforce Costco’s expansion opportunity and could broaden its commercial customer base. Costco Business Center Breaks Ground in Haltom City
• Neutral Sentiment: Commentators argue that Costco could remain attractive even without a potential $10 or $15 special dividend in 2027, viewing special payouts as supplemental rather than central to the company’s growth thesis. Costco’s regular quarterly dividend remains modest, with an annualized payout of $5.88 per share. Even If Costco Doesn’t Pay a Special Dividend in 2027
• Neutral Sentiment: Costco’s return of a discontinued food-court dessert is likely to support member engagement and publicity but has little direct effect on financial results. Speculation that the high-priced shares could eventually split is similarly sentiment-driven rather than a change in underlying value.
• Negative Sentiment: Executive Vice President Claudine Adamo sold 2,200 shares for approximately $2.02 million, reducing her direct holdings by 23.57%. The transaction may weigh on sentiment, though it does not by itself indicate deteriorating fundamentals. Costco Insider Claudine Adamo Sells 2,200 Shares
• Negative Sentiment: Despite repeated earnings beats and a strong membership model, analysts caution that Costco trades at an elevated earnings multiple. That valuation leaves less room for slowing sales, margin pressure or execution setbacks; some analysts have recently reduced price targets while maintaining generally favorable ratings. Costco Has One of Retail’s Strongest Businesses

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST traded up $6.04 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $916.38. 770,367 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,194,427. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $933.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $965.95. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1-year low of $844.06 and a 1-year high of $1,096.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $406.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.13, a PEG ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.62.

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

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 7th. Investors of record on Friday, July 24th were given a dividend of $1.47 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 24th. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 28.32%.

Costco Wholesale Company Profile

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.