Montecito Bank & Trust Acquires 2,014 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Montecito Bank & Trust increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 26.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,663 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,014 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for 1.3% of Montecito Bank & Trust’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Montecito Bank & Trust’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $8,797,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 31.7% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,901,594 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $22,359,224,000 after buying an additional 5,749,362 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 11.5% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 7,515,031 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,488,203,000 after acquiring an additional 773,651 shares in the last quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 99,278.0% during the 1st quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,726,899 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $672,690,000 after acquiring an additional 6,720,130 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 838.9% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 6,125,405 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,282,182,000 after acquiring an additional 5,472,968 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,328,729 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,732,836,000 after acquiring an additional 143,150 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting Costco Wholesale

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

• Positive Sentiment: Costco’s ancillary businesses—including gasoline, pharmacy and travel—are increasing member engagement, expanding share of wallet and potentially supporting higher-margin revenue. Costco’s Ancillary Businesses Expand Share-of-Wallet Opportunity
• Positive Sentiment: Recent fiscal fourth-quarter results remain the primary bullish catalyst: revenue rose 11.1% year over year to $95.72 billion and earnings reached $6.75 per share, exceeding consensus estimates. Strong traffic, larger baskets, membership growth, digital sales and warehouse expansion reinforce Costco’s growth outlook. Costco Q4 Earnings Beat
• Positive Sentiment: New and converted Business Center locations in Texas and Kansas City should broaden Costco’s commercial customer base and add long-term sales capacity. Haltom City Business Center
• Neutral Sentiment: Commentary remains supportive of Costco’s recurring membership-fee model and intermittent special dividends, although any future $10 or $15 special dividend is uncertain. Costco Special Dividend Commentary
• Neutral Sentiment: AI-related demand may push up prices for certain electronics and other products, encouraging members to buy sooner but potentially creating affordability and margin considerations for retailers. Costco Prices and AI Demand
• Negative Sentiment: EVP Claudine Adamo sold 2,200 shares worth approximately $2.02 million, reducing her direct stake by 23.57%. The transaction does not indicate weaker fundamentals, but insider selling can weigh on sentiment. Claudine Adamo Insider Sale
• Negative Sentiment: At roughly 44 times earnings, COST remains expensive relative to much of retail. Analysts continue to cite limited room for execution mistakes, even though the consensus rating remains “Moderate Buy.”

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,091.00 to $1,079.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday. DA Davidson lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,000.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 25th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Raymond James Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,100.00 to $1,050.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 25th. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 25th. Twenty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,046.27.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 2,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $915.93, for a total transaction of $2,015,046.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 7,134 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,534,244.62. This trade represents a 23.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of COST stock traded up $4.60 on Thursday, reaching $914.94. 2,108,409 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,201,888. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12-month low of $844.06 and a 12-month high of $1,096.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 1.06. The company has a market capitalization of $405.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 0.86. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $933.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $965.95.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 24th. The retailer reported $6.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.54 by $0.21. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 27.60% and a net margin of 3.04%.The firm had revenue of $95.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.97 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.87 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 22.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 24th were given a $1.47 dividend. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 24th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is 28.32%.

Costco Wholesale Profile

Costco Wholesale Corporation operates a membership-based warehouse retail business under the Costco name. The company sells a broad selection of merchandise, including groceries, fresh foods, beverages, appliances, electronics, furniture, apparel, jewelry, hardware, and seasonal products. It also offers services such as gasoline, pharmacies, optical departments, hearing-aid centers, food courts, travel services, and business delivery in selected markets.

Costco markets many products under its private-label Kirkland Signature brand and sells merchandise through warehouse locations and e-commerce platforms.