10 Defensive Stocks Billionaire Ken Fisher Is Betting On

3. Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

Beta Value: 0.98

Dividend Yield: 0.51%

Fisher Asset Management’s Q4 Stake: $2.82 billion

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 96

Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) is a membership-based warehouse club that provides bulk pricing on a variety of items such as food, electronics, and home supplies. Its members drives the company’s growth, with membership fees accounting for a sizable amount of its revenue. Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) announced that non-foods sales increased in the low teens in February, with jewelry, gift cards, and housewares outperforming other categories.

On March 24, Citi analyst Paul Lejeuz revised the price target for Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) to $927, down from the previous $1,060, while maintaining a Neutral rating on the stock. Lejeuz highlighted that Costco is well-positioned in the short term, if consumer demand weakens or the tariff situation worsens, and that Costco already operates a winning retail model, as evidenced by its impressive 22 consecutive years of dividend payments.

Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) posted solid second-quarter fiscal 2025 earnings, with net income of $1.788 billion, or $4.02 per diluted share. This is an 8.4% increase when certain tax-related items are excluded.

Aoris Investment Management stated the following regarding Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:

“Firstly, I think we exercised good valuation discipline in our sales of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) and Cintas. The share prices of these two companies had increased by more than 60% and 40% respectively in the year prior to our sale. It can be difficult as investors to remain objective and not ‘fall in love’ with an investment when it is performing well. A higher share price doesn’t make a business more valuable!

We sold both Costco and Cintas simply for reasons of valuation. These are exceptional businesses that we’d love to own again if valuation permits. Their sales allowed us to recycle portfolio capital into more attractively valued businesses.”