Covea Finance Cuts Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Covea Finance cut its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 40,664 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,578 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale makes up about 1.3% of Covea Finance’s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Covea Finance’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $37,640,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Peterson Wealth Services boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.5% during the second quarter. Peterson Wealth Services now owns 13,616 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $13,479,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Fishman Jay A Ltd. MI boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Fishman Jay A Ltd. MI now owns 16,888 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $16,718,000 after buying an additional 575 shares during the period. Wealthspire Advisors LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 15,799 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $15,640,000 after buying an additional 312 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,356,271 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $42,920,107,000 after acquiring an additional 711,560 shares during the period. Finally, Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the second quarter. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,638 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $20,430,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale News Roundup

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 research analysts have weighed in on COST shares. HSBC reduced their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,045.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 12th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,025.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,134.00 to $1,146.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $992.08.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.2%

COST opened at $873.35 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12 month low of $844.06 and a 12 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 business’s 50-day moving average price is $902.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $939.55. The company has a market cap of $387.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.78, a P/E/G ratio of 5.23 and a beta of 1.00.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 11th. The retailer reported $4.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.27 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $67.31 billion during 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%.Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.04 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 2,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 6,851 shares in the company, valued at $6,410,343.68. This represents a 28.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP William Richard Wilcox sold 2,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 2,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,860,260. This trade represents a 54.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 9,720 shares of company stock valued at $9,010,257. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.