Institutional Moves and Membership Trends at Costco

Recent regulatory filings show multiple institutional investors expanding their holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation during late 2025 and early 2026. SteelPeak Wealth LLC increased its position by 9.9% in the fourth quarter, purchasing an additional 1,246 shares and bringing its total stake to 13,886 shares, valued at $11,974,000 at the end of the period.

Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. also expanded its exposure in the fourth quarter. The firm now owns 2,070 Costco shares after acquiring 1,592 additional shares, with the position valued at $1,785,000 in its latest Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

Other large investors reported notable increases earlier in the year. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its Costco position in the fourth quarter to 1,137,436 shares, valued at $980,857,000, after buying 1,070,005 shares. Amundi lifted its holdings in the third quarter to 3,176,606 shares, worth $2,893,697,000, after purchasing 986,182 shares.

Voloridge Investment Management LLC more than doubled its stake in the third quarter, increasing holdings by 112.2% to 477,425 shares, valued at $441,919,000 after adding 252,453 shares. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board also reported substantial increases earlier in the year.

Smaller investors have been active as well. Hurley Capital LLC, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC, Collier Financial, AXS Investments LLC, and Imprint Wealth LLC all initiated or increased Costco positions in the third quarter. Overall, 68.48% of Costco stock is held by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Company filings indicate recent insider share sales. Executive Vice President Claudine Adamo sold 730 shares on Monday, March 9th, at an average price of $1,003.02, for total proceeds of $732,204.60. Following the transaction, Adamo directly owned 6,121 shares, valued at $6,139,485.42 based on the sale price.

Director Susan L. Decker sold 458 shares on Friday, January 16th, at an average price of $955.00, for total consideration of $437,390.00. After this sale, Decker directly held 8,532 Costco shares, valued at $8,148,060 at the transaction price. Both transactions were disclosed in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Across the last three months covered by the disclosures, insiders sold a total of 5,038 Costco shares, with an aggregate value of $4,790,896. Corporate insiders currently own 0.10% of the company’s outstanding stock, according to the reported data.

Costco shares recently opened at $1,014.96 on a Friday trading session. The company has a market capitalization of $450.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.99. The stock’s 52-week trading range runs from a low of $844.06 to a high of $1,067.08.

The retailer’s shares trade above both their short and long moving averages, with a 50-day moving average price of $989.68 and a 200-day moving average of $940.59. Costco reports a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 1.06.

Costco last reported quarterly earnings on Thursday, March 5th. The company posted earnings per share of $4.58, exceeding the consensus estimate of $4.55 by $0.03. Revenue for the quarter was $69.60 billion, ahead of analyst expectations of $68.96 billion and up 9.2% from the same quarter a year earlier.

The retailer recorded a net margin of 2.99% and a return on equity of 28.57% for the reported quarter. In the same period of the previous year, Costco earned $4.02 per share. Equity analysts as a group forecast full‑year earnings per share of 18.03 for the current fiscal year, based on MarketBeat data.

Costco recently paid a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share on Friday, February 13th, to shareholders of record as of Friday, January 30th. The ex-dividend date was also January 30th. The dividend equates to an annualized payout of $5.20 per share and a yield of 0.5%, with a payout ratio of 27.04%.

Research coverage of Costco remains active, with several firms updating views in February and March. Gordon Haskett raised its price objective on Costco shares to $1,100.00 in a research note dated Tuesday, February 3rd. Mizuho increased its target to $1,065.00 and assigned an “outperform” rating in a report on the same date.

Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted its target price to $1,000.00 and maintained a “neutral” rating in a February 17th note. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating with a $1,000.00 price target on March 6th. UBS Group set a $1,175.00 price target in a report released March 6th, while BMO Capital Markets raised its objective to $1,315.00 and rated the shares “outperform” the same day.

Weiss Ratings upgraded Costco from “hold (c+)” to “buy (b-)” in a research report dated Tuesday, March 17th. Overall, based on MarketBeat data, 22 analysts rate Costco as a Buy, 11 rate it Hold and one rates it Sell. The consensus rating is “Moderate Buy,” with an average target price of $1,039.13.

Alongside institutional and analyst interest, Costco has reported expanding membership engagement, particularly in its Executive tier. On a December earnings call, the company said membership income increased 7.5% year over year. At the end of the second quarter of 2025, Executive memberships were up 9.5%, reaching 40.4 million.

Costco offers two primary consumer membership levels. The standard Gold Star membership costs $65 per year, while the Executive membership is priced at $130 annually. The higher tier includes benefits such as dedicated shopping times and additional rewards and credits linked to spending at the warehouse clubs.

Executive members receive dedicated shopping hours, including an extra weekday morning hour and a Sunday window from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m., as well as a half-hour period on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. Members can also earn a $10 Instacart credit once a month for qualifying orders of at least $150 placed through Instacart or Costco Same‑Day.

Costco’s Executive membership offers a 2% annual reward on qualifying purchases, issued as a store certificate. To recoup the additional $65 cost above the standard membership, a member would need to generate $3,252 in qualifying annual purchases, which would yield a $65 reward. The annual reward is capped at $1,250, corresponding to about $62,500 in qualifying spending.

The company’s membership-based model is paired with a broad product mix and ancillary services, including groceries, general merchandise, gasoline stations, pharmacy and optical services, hearing aid centers, photo services and travel and insurance products, supporting recurring traffic from both standard and Executive members.