Ellsworth Advisors LLC Invests $2.74 Million in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Ellsworth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 2,873 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $2,744,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 900.0% during the first quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC now owns 40 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 975.0% during the second quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 43 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Frazier Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 72.0% during the second quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 43 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Key Stores Impacting Costco Wholesale

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

• Positive Sentiment: Northcoast Research upgraded COST from Neutral to Buy and set a $1,100 price target (roughly +26% upside from recent levels), a near-term catalyst for bullish flows. Northcoast Upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Yahoo Finance reports Costco “breaks 3 records” — a headline that reinforces momentum around membership, sales and comps (positively read by investors even before full detail disclosure). Costco breaks 3 records
• Positive Sentiment: Forbes published a piece outlining specific catalysts and execution paths that could drive a rally in COST — a constructive analyst/strategy view that supports more optimistic positioning. How Costco Stock Can Rally
• Positive Sentiment: The Motley Fool (and syndicated repeat) published bullish commentary framing COST as a long-term wealth-builder, reinforcing investor confidence in the membership model and repeat purchase economics. Is Costco Stock a Multimillionaire Maker?
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks compares Target vs. Costco on upside potential — this frames COST as resilient (membership/digital momentum) but highlights peer execution differences investors are weighing. Target vs. Costco
• Neutral Sentiment: MarketBeat flagged COST as among household names showing rare oversold signals into year-end — a technical setup that can attract short-term buying if momentum stabilizes. Oversold Signals
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks noted increased investor attention on COST (summary pieces that raise visibility but don’t change fundamentals). Investor Attention
• Neutral Sentiment: Consumer/operational items — a regional product feature (MSN), holiday hours/closures and a planned one-day shutdown article — are interest items for customers but unlikely to move fundamentals materially. Regional Costco Find Holiday Closure

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Raymond James Financial decreased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,070.00 to $1,000.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,134.00 to $1,146.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $950.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, HSBC lowered their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,045.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $992.08.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST opened at $873.35 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1 year low of $844.06 and a 1 year high of $1,078.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $902.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $939.55. The firm has a market cap of $387.65 billion, a PE ratio of 46.78, a PEG ratio of 5.23 and a beta of 1.00.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 29.35% and a net margin of 2.96%.The company had revenue of $67.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $67.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.04 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st were paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 31st. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 2,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $935.68, for a total transaction of $2,526,336.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 6,851 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,410,343.68. This represents a 28.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP William Richard Wilcox sold 2,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $930.13, for a total transaction of $2,232,312.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 2,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,860,260. This trade represents a 54.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 9,720 shares of company stock worth $9,010,257. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Costco Wholesale

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.