10 Best Defensive Stocks According to Reddit

5. Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 71

Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) ranks fifth on our list of the best defensive stocks to buy according to Reddit. The company is a wholesale corporation with over 800 warehouses across the globe.

Historically, the company has always been the epitome of solid growth. Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) is one of the few companies that managed to reach $3 billion in sales within the first six years of operation. By 1993, the company was generating $16 billion in annual sales. In 2023, Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) ended the year with a revenue of over $242 billion.

Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) reported close to $58 billion in sales, an increase of 9.1% year-over-year, during the second quarter of 2024. Of this, e-commerce sales were up by 20.7% and sales in the international market grew by 7.7%. The company saw an overall increase in web traffic and shopping frequency by 6.1% worldwide and 5.5% in the United States.

The company’s reliable growth trajectory is what investors like about the stock. Before the end of 2024, the company plans to open another 12 locations, bringing the total to 30 for this year alone. The company spent over $1.06 billion on capital expenditures during the fiscal third quarter of 2024, bringing the full-year total to $4.3 billion.

Analysts are bullish on COST and their 12-month median price target of $908 points to a 4% upside from current levels. By the end of the second quarter, 71 hedge funds held shares in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) with total stakes amounting to $5.96 billion. The largest shareholder was Fisher Asset Management with a position worth $2.51 billion, as of June 30.

ClearBridge Investments’ ClearBridge Sustainability Leaders Strategy stated the following regarding Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) in its Q2 2024 investor letter:

“Consumer staples holdings were also standouts in the quarter, such as Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST), which continues to execute well and delivered better than expected earnings, helped by strong traffic driving better expense leverage. Customers also looked to be shifting toward more discretionary purchases.”