Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Decreases Stake in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Key Points

• Arrowstreet Capital reduced its Ross Stores stake by 33.2% in the fourth quarter, selling 345,390 shares and leaving it with 694,314 shares valued at about $125.1 million.
• Several other institutional investors added to or initiated positions, and hedge funds and institutions now hold 86.86% of Ross Stores’ stock.
• Ross Stores reported strong quarterly results, beating estimates with $2.02 EPS and $6.01 billion in revenue, while analysts have been raising price targets and the company declared a $0.445 quarterly dividend.

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership cut its stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 33.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 694,314 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after selling 345,390 shares during the quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned about 0.21% of Ross Stores worth $125,074,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $868,360,000. Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new position in Ross Stores in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $351,763,000. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in Ross Stores by 1,908.8% during the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,816,763 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $276,857,000 after purchasing an additional 1,726,324 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Ross Stores by 20.9% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 9,582,401 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $1,222,523,000 after purchasing an additional 1,657,008 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. purchased a new stake in Ross Stores during the fourth quarter worth $204,750,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.86% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ROST has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays upped their target price on Ross Stores from $242.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ross Stores from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 6th. Telsey Advisory Group increased their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $240.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $248.00 to $251.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $233.18.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CMO Karen Sykes sold 5,506 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.40, for a total transaction of $1,174,980.40. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 104,648 shares in the company, valued at $22,331,883.20. This represents a 5.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 15,813 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.91, for a total transaction of $3,398,371.83. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 116,028 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $24,935,577.48. The trade was a 11.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

Ross Stores Trading Down 1.4%

Ross Stores stock opened at $236.77 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $225.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $204.97. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52 week low of $124.49 and a 52 week high of $242.81. The stock has a market cap of $75.95 billion, a PE ratio of 33.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The apparel retailer reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $6.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.64 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.74% and a return on equity of 38.42%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.47 EPS. Ross Stores has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.500-7.740 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 1.850-1.930 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 7.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be issued a $0.445 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Ross Stores's payout ratio is 24.86%.

About Ross Stores

Ross Stores, Inc NASDAQ: ROST is an American off‑price retailer headquartered in Dublin, California, that operates the Ross Dress for Less and dd's DISCOUNTS store formats. The company sells a broad assortment of apparel, footwear, home fashions, accessories and other soft goods, positioning itself as a value-oriented destination for brand‑name and fashion merchandise at reduced prices.

Ross's business model centers on opportunistic buying of excess inventory, closeouts, cancelled orders and overstocks from manufacturers, department stores and other suppliers.

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