Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST is Aljian Capital Management LLC’s 3rd Largest Position

Aljian Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.1% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 54,656 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,171 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises approximately 11.2% of Aljian Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Aljian Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $54,461,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,620,717 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $37,615,889,000 after acquiring an additional 165,349 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,388,519 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,919,573,000 after purchasing an additional 26,690 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,523,423 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,212,433,000 after purchasing an additional 107,775 shares during the last quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 99,278.0% in the 1st 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 during the period. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 838.9% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 6,125,405 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,282,182,000 after buying an additional 5,472,968 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Costco Wholesale

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

• Positive Sentiment: Several articles highlighted Costco’s strong underlying business, including robust recent results, high membership renewal rates, and ongoing expansion initiatives such as digital and retail-media efforts that could support longer-term growth. Costco Wholesale (COST) Posts Strong Results, Is It Fully Priced?
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage also pointed to Costco’s scale advantage and continued sales momentum, with commentary noting fiscal 2025 revenue of about $275.24 billion and a Q3 FY2026 update that suggests the company’s growth engine is still working well. Costco’s $250 Billion Expansion Strategy Keeps Delivering Results
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst- and investor-focused articles remained constructive on Costco’s long-term compounding ability and its potential to expand into areas like retail media, reinforcing the view that the business still has multiple growth levers. Can Costco Stock Build a Meaningful Retail Media Business?
• Neutral Sentiment: Several pieces were largely commentary or retrospective pieces about Costco’s past returns, which may support sentiment but do not add new fundamental information for investors. If You’d Invested $10,000 in Costco 10 Years Ago, Here’s How Much You’d Have Today
• Negative Sentiment: One newly surfaced lawsuit alleges Costco sold Orgain protein supplements contaminated with heavy metals, creating a potential legal and reputational overhang even though the financial impact is still unclear. Hagens Berman: Consumer Lawsuit Against Costco Alleges Toxic Heavy Metals in Orgain Protein Supplements

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 885 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $957.45, for a total value of $847,343.25. Following the sale, the director owned 4,779 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,575,653.55. The trade was a 15.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $977.00 to $1,011.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $1,125.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, May 29th. Weiss Ratings cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,192.00 to $1,194.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Twenty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,061.45.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

COST opened at $947.50 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 1.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $420.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.66, a PEG ratio of 4.60 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a fifty day moving average of $987.83 and a 200 day moving average of $974.59. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $844.06 and a fifty-two week high of $1,096.50.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 28th. The retailer reported $4.93 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.94 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $70.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.12 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 3.01% and a return on equity of 28.04%. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.28 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 20.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 1st were paid a dividend of $1.47 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 1st. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.58%.

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.