62% buyers of institutions opening or closing positions this quarter
159 more new buyers than exits, ownership rose 15.98 percentage points vs the prior quarter, and 1 well-known fund manager in the top 25.
62% buyers of institutions opening or closing positions this quarter
78.0% institutional ownership
Fisher Asset Management, portfolio allocation
Institutional ownership vs Discount Stores peers
No Form 4 insider transactions on file
Latest positioning in COST across 13F flow, ownership shift, marquee holders, and holder-count growth.
Ranked by reported Q1 2026 13F market value
Share of total reported institutional value in COST held by the largest 10 / 25 filers.
| # | Institution | Shares Held | Market Value | QoQ Change | Ownership % | % of Fund |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kentucky Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Co | 197K | $46.59B | β | 0.044% | 1.06% |
| 2 | BlackRock, Inc. | 34.9M | $34.82B | -0.4% | 7.885% | 0.61% |
| 3 | VANGUARD CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LLC | 28.8M | $28.74B | β | 6.508% | 0.72% |
| 4 | STATE STREET CORP | 18.2M | $18.09B | +0.0% | 4.095% | 0.62% |
| 5 | VANGUARD PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT LLC | 10.7M | $10.67B | β | 2.415% | 0.57% |
| 6 | GEODE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT, LLC | 10.7M | $10.58B | +2.6% | 2.405% | 0.66% |
| 7 | MORGAN STANLEY | 9.9M | $9.86B | +3.9% | 2.233% | 0.59% |
| 8 | BANK OF AMERICA CORP /DE/ | 7.5M | $7.49B | +11.5% | 1.696% | 0.55% |
| 9 | FMR LLC | 6.7M | $6.69B | +0.4% | 1.516% | 0.35% |
| 10 | American State Bank (Iowa) | 32K | $5.99B | β | 0.007% | 0.59% |
| 11 | NORTHERN TRUST CORP | 4.9M | $4.91B | +0.3% | 1.112% | 0.65% |
| 12 | SUSQUEHANNA INTERNATIONAL GROUP, LLP | 4.4M | $4.38B | -31.0% | 0.992% | 0.49% |
| 13 | Invesco Ltd. | 4.3M | $4.30B | -0.4% | 0.973% | 0.66% |
| 14 | ROYAL BANK OF CANADA | 3.8M | $3.76B | -4.6% | 0.851% | 0.66% |
| 15 | GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INC | 3.5M | $3.46B | +23.8% | 0.783% | 0.40% |
| 16 | CHARLES SCHWAB INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC | 3.4M | $3.39B | +3.6% | 0.767% | 0.52% |
| 17 | Bank of New York Mellon Corp | 3.4M | $3.38B | -3.6% | 0.765% | 0.62% |
| 18 | Fisher Asset Management, LLC | 3.2M | $3.21B | +1.4% | 0.726% | 1.09% |
| 19 | WELLS FARGO & COMPANY/MN | 3.1M | $3.10B | +2.3% | 0.702% | 0.58% |
| 20 | Nuveen, LLC | 3.1M | $3.06B | +41.5% | 0.694% | 0.83% |
| 21 | CITADEL ADVISORS LLC | 3.0M | $2.95B | -20.7% | 0.669% | 0.48% |
| 22 | UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS INC | 2.9M | $2.90B | +5.5% | 0.656% | 0.60% |
| 23 | Amundi | 2.8M | $2.83B | +11.1% | 0.640% | 0.77% |
| 24 | Capital International Investors | 2.7M | $2.74B | +329.4% | 0.620% | 0.64% |
| 25 | UBS Group AG | 2.6M | $2.56B | -8.6% | 0.581% | 0.38% |
denotes a marquee investor (Buffett, Burry, ARK, Tiger Global, Pershing Square, Baupost and other widely-followed managers). β% of Fundβ shows how much of that investorβs total 13F portfolio is invested in COST β a direct measure of their conviction.
Filings activity in COST during Q1 2026, grouped by how each filer changed its position.
8 quarters of 13F filings Β· Ξ columns show change vs prior quarter
| Quarter | Inst. Holders | Ξ Holders | Ownership % | Ξ Ownership | Total 13F Value | Ξ Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 2026 | 4,105 | +4.0% | 78.03% | +15.98 pp | $346.85B | +26% |
| Q4 2025 | 3,946 | +4.3% | 62.05% | 84.35 pp | $275.82B | 58% |
| Q3 2025 | 3,783 | 1.9% | 146.40% | +65.28 pp | $650.82B | +80% |
| Q2 2025 | 3,856 | +2.2% | 81.12% | 118.87 pp | $360.61B | 80% |
| Q1 2025 | 3,774 | +1.8% | 199.99% | +133.59 pp | $1.77T | +499% |
| Q4 2024 | 3,708 | +8.7% | 66.40% | 60.34 pp | $295.16B | 48% |
| Q3 2024 | 3,410 | +2.7% | 126.74% | +25.46 pp | $563.41B | +25% |
| Q2 2024 | 3,321 | β | 101.28% | β | $450.22B | β |
Source: SEC 13F institutional filings. Ownership % requires market cap data and will show once linked. Ξ columns compare to the immediately prior filed quarter.
No recent Form 4 insider transactions on file for COST.
Quick answers to the most common questions about buying COST stock.
Based on Q1 2026 13F filings, institutional ownership of Costco Wholesale Corporation stands at 78.0%, held across 4,105 reporting institutions.
Kentucky Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Co is the largest reported institutional holder of COST, with approximately 197,274 shares worth $46.59B as of Q1 2026.
Yes β 1 widely-followed marquee investor appear among the top 25 institutional holders of COST, including CITADEL ADVISORS LLC.
Our composite Smart Money Score for COST is 61 out of 100 (Bullish). It combines net institutional buying activity, ownership shift, marquee investor presence, and holder-count growth.
398 institutions opened new positions in COST during Q1 2026, while 239 fully exited. 3,257 added to existing positions and 435 trimmed.
COST institutional ownership rose by 15.98 percentage points quarter-over-quarter, with a net change of β holders.
The top 10 institutions account for 51.8% of all reported 13F value in COST, and the top 25 account for 66.4%.
All data is sourced from SEC Form 13F filings, which institutional investment managers with at least $100M in assets are required to file each quarter. We process every 13F filing from EDGAR and recompute the aggregates after each cycle. Insider transactions are sourced from Form 4 filings.