Norges Bank Acquires Shares of 4,820,473 Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Key Points

• Norges Bank disclosed a new stake in Ross Stores, buying 4,820,473 shares worth about $868.4 million. The position represents roughly 1.49% of the retailer.
• Ross Stores reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $2.02 beating estimates and revenue of $6.01 billion topping expectations. Revenue rose 20.6% year over year, and the company raised guidance for FY2026 and Q2 2026.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.445 per share, and analysts remain generally bullish with an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $233.18.

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 4,820,473 shares of the apparel retailer's stock, valued at approximately $868,360,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 1.49% of Ross Stores as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its stake in Ross Stores by 7,000.0% during the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 142 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. City Holding Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 1,080.0% during the 4th quarter. City Holding Co. now owns 177 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 42.6% during the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 211 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac purchased a new stake in shares of Ross Stores during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 89.0% during the 4th quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 223 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ROST opened at $231.73 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $221.49 and a 200 day moving average of $199.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.87. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12-month low of $124.49 and a 12-month high of $237.41.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The apparel retailer reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $6.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.64 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.74% and a return on equity of 38.42%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.47 earnings per share. 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. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Ross Stores

In other Ross Stores news, CMO Karen Sykes sold 5,506 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 104,648 shares of the company's stock, valued at $22,331,883.20. The trade was a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 1,881 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.13, for a total transaction of $400,897.53. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 2,159 shares in the company, valued at $460,147.67. This represents a 46.56% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 25,756 shares of company stock worth $5,521,004. 2.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $248.00 to $251.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $242.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $240.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Friday, May 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ross Stores has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $233.18.

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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