Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Shares Sold by Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lowered its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 7.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 403,618 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 30,870 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises about 1.3% of Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado owned about 0.09% of Costco Wholesale worth $348,056,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,620,717 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $37,615,889,000 after buying an additional 165,349 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,388,519 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,919,573,000 after acquiring an additional 26,690 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,523,423 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,212,433,000 after acquiring an additional 107,775 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $5,195,415,000. Finally, Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,937,286 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,395,301,000 after acquiring an additional 77,650 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the subject of several research reports. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,100.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $1,050.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Evercore set a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,104.00 to $1,106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Twenty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,060.41.

Key Stories Impacting Costco Wholesale

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

• Positive Sentiment: Erste Group Bank lifted its FY2026 and FY2027 earnings forecasts for Costco, signaling expectations for stronger profitability ahead.
• Positive Sentiment: Commentary in 24/7 Wall St. emphasized Costco’s membership-fee model as a resilient source of recurring revenue that can support long-term earnings growth.
• Positive Sentiment: Barchart coverage noted Costco as one of the retail names rewarding shareholders with a higher dividend, reinforcing the company’s capital-return appeal.
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage that Costco offers shopping without a membership in limited cases is mainly informational and not likely to materially affect the stock.
• Neutral Sentiment: The Iowa court decision involving a former Costco manager appears to be a legal headline with limited direct impact on the company’s overall financial outlook.
• Negative Sentiment: Bloomberg reported rising plastic input costs may lead to higher prices for consumer goods later this year, which could add inflation pressure to Costco’s retail environment and potentially squeeze margins or demand.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

NASDAQ:COST opened at $982.35 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The firm has a market cap of $435.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.76 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $1,005.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $967.31. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1-year low of $844.06 and a 1-year high of $1,096.50.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 28th. The retailer reported $4.93 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.94 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $70.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 firm earned $4.28 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 20.38 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

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

Costco Wholesale 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.