Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Shares Sold by Sowell Financial Services LLC

Sowell Financial Services LLC lowered its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 9.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 18,690 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 2,062 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale makes up about 0.7% of Sowell Financial Services LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Sowell Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $17,300,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of COST. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 19,825 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $18,165,000 after purchasing an additional 2,172 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,029,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Saudi Central Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter worth about $166,000. Calton & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth about $558,000. Finally, Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the first quarter valued at approximately $225,000. Hedge funds and other 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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,000.00 to $900.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Roth Capital set a $769.00 price objective on Costco Wholesale and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,033.00 to $926.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Hovde Group assumed coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $16.00 target price on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,218.00 to $1,171.00 and set a “buy” 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 issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $992.08.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP William Richard Wilcox sold 2,400 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $930.13, for a total transaction of $2,232,312.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 2,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,860,260. The trade was a 54.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 2,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $935.68, for a total transaction of $2,526,336.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 6,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,410,343.68. The trade was a 28.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 6,339 shares of company stock valued at $5,916,642 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $873.35 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $902.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $938.67. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a twelve month low of $844.06 and a twelve month high of $1,078.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $387.65 billion, a P/E 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 results on Thursday, December 11th. The retailer reported $4.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.27 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $67.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $67.03 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 29.35% and a net margin of 2.96%.The firm’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.04 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

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

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.