CostcoCOST
About: Costco operates a membership-based, no-frills retail model predicated on offering a select product assortment in bulk quantities at bargain prices. The firm avoids maintaining costly product displays by keeping inventory on pallets and limits distribution expenses by storing its inventory at point of sale in the warehouse. Given its frugal cost structure, the firm is able to price its merchandise below that of competing retailers, driving high sales volume per warehouse and generating strong profits on thin margins. Costco operates over 600 warehouses in the United States and has over 60% share in the domestic warehouse club industry. Internationally, Costco operates another 280 warehouses, primarily in Canada, Mexico, Japan, and the UK.
Employees: 333,000
Fund manager confidence
Based on 2024 Q4 regulatory disclosures by fund managers ($100M+ AUM)
425% more first-time investments, than exits
New positions opened: 462 | Existing positions closed: 88
9% more capital invested
Capital invested by funds: $261B [Q3] → $285B (+$23.6B) [Q4]
8% more funds holding
Funds holding: 3,531 [Q3] → 3,826 (+295) [Q4]
3% more funds holding in top 10
Funds holding in top 10: 321 [Q3] → 332 (+11) [Q4]
2% more repeat investments, than reductions
Existing positions increased: 1,470 | Existing positions reduced: 1,438
0.32% more ownership
Funds ownership: 68.15% [Q3] → 68.47% (+0.32%) [Q4]
27% less call options, than puts
Call options by funds: $8.38B | Put options by funds: $11.6B
Research analyst outlook
10 Wall Street Analysts provided 1 year price targets over the past 3 months
10 analyst ratings
Telsey Advisory Group Joseph Feldman 32% 1-year accuracy 47 / 147 met price target | 11%upside $1,100 | Outperform Maintained | 28 Apr 2025 |
Mizuho David Belinger 100% 1-year accuracy 1 / 1 met price target | 2%downside $975 | Neutral Initiated | 11 Apr 2025 |
Loop Capital Laura Champine 50% 1-year accuracy 14 / 28 met price target | 5%upside $1,045 | Buy Maintained | 9 Apr 2025 |
Stifel Mark Astrachan 43% 1-year accuracy 12 / 28 met price target | 4%upside $1,035 | Buy Maintained | 20 Mar 2025 |
Evercore ISI Group Greg Melich 80% 1-year accuracy 40 / 50 met price target | 8%upside $1,070 | Outperform Maintained | 11 Mar 2025 |
Financial journalist opinion
Based on 61 articles about COST published over the past 30 days
