Costco Rises to 39th in Trading Volume Amid Institutional Sift and Insider Sales as Resilient Earnings Outpace Forecasts

On September 3, 2025, Costco Wholesale (COST) rose 1.17% with a trading volume of 1.58 billion shares, ranking 39th in volume. Institutional investors adjusted their stakes, with Beck Mack & Oliver LLC reducing holdings by 5.5% to $9.37 million, while Aspect Partners LLC and Bank & Trust Co increased their positions by 24.4% and 20.4%, respectively. Analysts remain divided, with Telsey Advisory Group reaffirming an "outperform" rating and a $1,100 price target, and Morgan Stanley raising their target to $1,225.

Insider activity highlighted mixed signals. Executive Vice Presidents Pierre Riel and Patrick Callans sold shares totaling $5.03 million and $3.01 million, respectively, reducing their ownership by 19.59% and 4.87%. Over the past 90 days, insiders sold 10,147 shares valued at $10.07 million. Meanwhile, institutional ownership remains strong, with 68.48% of shares held by funds and hedge funds.

The company’s financial performance showed resilience, reporting Q2 earnings of $4.28 per share, exceeding estimates by $0.04, and revenue of $63.21 billion, up 8% year-over-year. A dividend of $1.30 per share was declared, yielding 0.6% annually. Analysts project full-year earnings of $18.03 per share, reflecting confidence in the retailer’s growth trajectory.

COST closed at $943.32, with a market cap of $418.34 billion and a P/E ratio of 53.51. The stock’s 50-day and 200-day moving averages stood at $966.42 and $981.17, respectively, indicating a neutral technical outlook. Institutional and analyst activity suggests a cautiously optimistic stance, though insider selling raises caution about near-term sentiment.

Backtest results indicate that the stock’s recent performance aligns with its historical pattern of moderate volatility, with no significant deviations in trading strategy effectiveness over the past year.