Bard Financial Services Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Bard Financial Services Inc. decreased its position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 12.6% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 5,715 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 825 shares during the quarter. Bard Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $5,290,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Birchbrook Inc. raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Birchbrook Inc. now owns 456 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $431,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.4% during the second quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 159 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $157,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the period. Wagner Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.4% during the second quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC now owns 330 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $326,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Hobbs Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.4% during the second quarter. Hobbs Wealth Management LLC now owns 262 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $259,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Busey Bank lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.4% in the third quarter. Busey Bank now owns 2,651 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,454,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

More Costco Wholesale News

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,025.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 26th. BTIG Research initiated coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $1,115.00 price target for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,218.00 to $1,171.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 12th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $1,000.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $992.08.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of COST opened at $873.35 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $387.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.23 and a beta of 1.00. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a twelve month low of $844.06 and a twelve month high of $1,078.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $902.38 and a 200 day moving average of $939.07.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 11th. The retailer reported $4.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.27 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $67.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $67.03 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 29.35% and a net margin of 2.96%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.04 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 27.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Tiffany Marie Barbre sold 1,239 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $934.62, for a total value of $1,157,994.18. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 5,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,817,966.10. This trade represents a 19.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $915.00, for a total transaction of $3,093,615.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 9,740 shares in the company, valued at $8,912,100. This represents a 25.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 9,720 shares of company stock valued at $9,010,257. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.