During the third and fourth quarters, major asset managers significantly increased their holdings in Costco. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR boosted its stake by 22.3%, acquiring an additional 4,594 shares to reach 25,173 shares valued at $23.3 million. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position by 12.3% to 19,825 shares (approximately $18.2 million), and Revolve Wealth Partners LLC added 130 shares (a 13.1% increase) to hold 1,123 shares worth about $1.03 million. Earlier in the year, Clark Capital Management Group Inc. and DnB Asset Management AS raised their stakes by 12.3% and 22.6%, respectively, taking their holdings to 7,696 shares ($7.3 million) and 109,788 shares ($103.8 million). Hancock Whitney Corp also modestly increased its position by 0.6% to 12,606 shares ($11.9 million). Collectively, institutional investors and hedge funds now own 68.48% of Costco’s stock.

In its fiscal third quarter, Costco reported earnings per share of $4.34, exceeding consensus estimates by $0.07. Quarterly revenues rose 8.3% year-over-year to $67.31 billion, topping analyst projections by $0.28 billion. The company delivered a 29.35% return on equity and a net margin of 2.96%, underscoring its high-volume, low-margin warehouse model. With revenues continuing to outpace market expectations, sell-side analysts project full-year EPS of $18.03 for the current fiscal cycle.

Costco declared a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share, translating to an annualized dividend of $5.20 and a yield of 0.6%. This marks a payout ratio of 27.85%, reflecting the company’s commitment to returning cash to shareholders while retaining ample earnings for reinvestment in its warehouse network and ancillary services such as fuel stations, pharmacies and travel offerings.

Analyst coverage remains broadly positive, with 19 firms rating Costco a Buy, 13 a Hold and just one a Sell, yielding an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target of $992.08. Insider activity has been tilted toward sales: the executive vice president sold shares worth approximately $2.23 million, reducing his ownership by 54.6%, and another senior executive trimmed holdings by roughly $1.16 million (a 19.4% decline). In total, insiders sold 8,946 shares valued at about $8.18 million in the last quarter, representing 0.10% of outstanding stock.