North Dakota State Investment Board Purchases Shares of 11,044 Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Key Points

• North Dakota State Investment Board opened a new position in Ross Stores (NASDAQ: ROST), buying 11,044 shares worth about $1.99 million in the fourth quarter.
• Analyst sentiment remains constructive, with multiple firms raising price targets and Truist starting coverage at Buy with a $270 target; MarketBeat shows an overall Moderate Buy rating and an average target of $218.56.
• Ross Stores has also posted solid fundamentals, recently beating earnings and revenue estimates and raising its quarterly dividend to $0.445 per share, while insiders have sold shares over the past 90 days.

North Dakota State Investment Board purchased a new stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 11,044 shares of the apparel retailer's stock, valued at approximately $1,989,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ROST. Woodline Partners LP grew its stake in Ross Stores by 39.9% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 27,875 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $3,562,000 after purchasing an additional 7,951 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Ross Stores by 23.5% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 615 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in Ross Stores by 35.8% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 10,581 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $1,350,000 after purchasing an additional 2,792 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its stake in Ross Stores by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 150,491 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $19,200,000 after purchasing an additional 1,508 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 2.2% in the second quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 12,580 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $1,605,000 after buying an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.86% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on ROST shares. Citigroup upped their target price on Ross Stores from $240.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Barclays upped their target price on Ross Stores from $205.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Truist Financial started coverage on Ross Stores in a research note on Monday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $270.00 target price on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Ross Stores from $214.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ross Stores presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $218.56.

Ross Stores News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Ross Stores this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Truist Securities initiated coverage of Ross Stores (ROST) with a Buy rating and a $270 price target, highlighting the retailer as one of its favored names in the off-price/vertical retail space. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan raised its price target on Ross Stores (ROST) to $251 from $248 and kept an Overweight rating, implying further upside if earnings remain solid. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and preview articles say Ross Stores is heading into Q1 results with expectations for double-digit sales and EPS growth, supported by strong traffic, merchandising execution, and store expansion. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street is also focusing on the upcoming earnings release, with investors watching key metrics for confirmation that momentum in the business is continuing. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Erste Group Bank reportedly boosted its FY2027 EPS estimate for Ross Stores (ROST), adding to the generally constructive analyst backdrop, though this is less immediately market-moving than the new buy ratings. Article Title

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ross Stores 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 transaction, the director owned 2,159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $460,147.67. This represents a 46.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Karen Sykes sold 5,506 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.40, for a total value of $1,174,980.40. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 104,648 shares in the company, valued at $22,331,883.20. This represents a 5.00% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 25,756 shares of company stock worth $5,521,004. 2.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of ROST stock opened at $211.08 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $68.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.87. The business's 50 day moving average is $218.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $195.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12-month low of $124.49 and a 12-month high of $231.16.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The apparel retailer reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $6.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.42 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 36.70% and a net margin of 9.43%.Ross Stores's revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.65 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.445 per share. This is an increase from Ross Stores's previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. Ross Stores's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.93%.

Ross Stores Profile

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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