Legal & General Group Plc Sells 142,892 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc cut its Ross Stores stake by 6.5% in the fourth quarter, selling 142,892 shares and leaving it with about 2.07 million shares valued at roughly $372.2 million.
• Several institutional investors made smaller changes to their Ross Stores holdings, while institutional ownership remains high at 86.86% of the company.
• Ross Stores reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $2.02 beating estimates and revenue rising 20.6% year over year to $6.01 billion; the company also raised guidance and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.445 per share.

Legal & General Group Plc lowered its stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 6.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,065,971 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after selling 142,892 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.64% of Ross Stores worth $372,164,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Somerset Trust Co boosted its position in Ross Stores by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Somerset Trust Co now owns 14,788 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $2,664,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance raised its position in shares of Ross Stores by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 3,309 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $596,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Florida Trust Wealth Management Co lifted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Florida Trust Wealth Management Co now owns 3,399 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $612,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 42.6% in the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 211 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Composition Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Ross Stores by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Composition Wealth LLC now owns 9,832 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $1,771,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.86% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Ross Stores

In other news, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 1,881 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.13, for a total transaction of $400,897.53. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,159 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $460,147.67. This represents a 46.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 15,813 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.91, for a total value of $3,398,371.83. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 116,028 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $24,935,577.48. This trade represents a 11.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 25,756 shares of company stock valued at $5,521,004. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ROST has been the topic of a number of research reports. Zacks Research lowered Ross Stores from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Ross Stores from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Friday. UBS Group upped their price target on Ross Stores from $227.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group upped their price target on Ross Stores from $240.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $233.18.

Ross Stores Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ ROST opened at $234.68 on Wednesday. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52-week low of $124.49 and a 52-week high of $236.29. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $220.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $198.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market cap of $75.60 billion, a PE ratio of 32.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.87.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 21st. The apparel retailer reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.29. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 38.42% and a net margin of 9.74%.The company had revenue of $6.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.64 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.47 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 20.6% on a year-over-year basis. 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 forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 7.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $0.445 per share. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 9th. Ross Stores's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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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