Costco Wholesale’s (COST) Sector Perform Rating Reaffirmed at Royal Bank Of Canada

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST)‘s stock had its “sector perform” rating restated by equities researchers at Royal Bank Of Canada in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $1,000.00 price objective on the retailer’s stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 5.65% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on COST. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Monday, September 28th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,100.00 to $1,065.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 25th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of 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. Finally, Raymond James Financial dropped 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 report on Friday, September 25th. Twenty-two equities 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,046.27.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of COST traded down $1.39 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $946.53. The stock had a trading volume of 282,190 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,185,548. Costco Wholesale has a 12-month low of $844.06 and a 12-month high of $1,096.50. The firm has a market cap of $419.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.61, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.88. 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’s fifty day simple moving average is $930.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $963.49.

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

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 31.7% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,901,594 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $22,359,224,000 after acquiring an additional 5,749,362 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 11.5% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 7,515,031 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,488,203,000 after purchasing an additional 773,651 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $5,282,182,000 after purchasing an additional 5,472,968 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,328,729 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,732,836,000 after purchasing an additional 143,150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 5.5% in the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,068,312 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,870,314,000 after purchasing an additional 160,893 shares in the last quarter. 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: Costco reported September net sales of $30.02 billion, up 13% year over year. Total comparable sales increased 11.4%, while comparable sales excluding gasoline and foreign-exchange effects rose 7.6%. U.S. comparable sales gained 12.5%, and digital sales grew approximately 19%, signaling broad-based demand and a strong start to fiscal 2027. Costco Wholesale Corporation Reports September Sales Results
• Positive Sentiment: UBS characterized Costco’s September performance as evidence of accelerating trends, while analysts highlighted strong store traffic and transaction growth. These metrics are important because they suggest the sales increase reflects customer demand rather than only higher prices. Costco September Sales Point to Accelerating Trends, UBS Says
• Neutral Sentiment: DA Davidson analyst Michael Baker maintained a Hold rating after a Costco warehouse tour. The company’s operating momentum remains favorable, but the unchanged stance indicates that current valuation and execution risks may already be reflected in the shares. Costco Warehouse Club Tour
• Negative Sentiment: Some analysts caution that part of September’s comparable-sales surge was helped by gasoline prices and other potentially temporary or lower-margin factors. This could make it harder for Costco to sustain the headline growth rate and expand profits.
• Negative Sentiment: At roughly 45 times trailing earnings, Costco remains expensive for a retailer with net margins near 3%. Investors are therefore pricing in continued strong growth, leaving the stock vulnerable if traffic, margins, tariffs, or international performance disappoint. A lawsuit alleging misleading “sugar-free” labeling on a Kirkland drink mix is a minor additional risk, though its financial impact is currently unclear.

About Costco Wholesale

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.