PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Trims Stock Position in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Key Points

• PNC Financial Services Group trimmed its Ross Stores stake by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, selling 5,546 shares and ending with 339,198 shares valued at about $61.1 million.
• Ross Stores posted strong first-quarter results, beating estimates with EPS of $2.02 and revenue of $6.01 billion, while sales jumped 20.6% year over year.
• The company raised its outlook for fiscal 2026, lifting full-year EPS guidance to $7.50-$7.74 and increasing its comparable sales forecast to 6%-7%, signaling continued demand for value-focused shopping.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 339,198 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after selling 5,546 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. owned about 0.10% of Ross Stores worth $61,103,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 9,762,583 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $1,487,720,000 after buying an additional 180,182 shares during the last quarter. Viking Global Investors LP raised its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 9.9% during the 2nd quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 4,747,639 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $605,704,000 after buying an additional 426,370 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,655,932 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $709,518,000 after buying an additional 252,284 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,045,346 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $616,470,000 after buying an additional 375,470 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshfield Associates raised its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Marshfield Associates now owns 4,020,413 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $612,671,000 after buying an additional 157,385 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.86% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Ross Stores

In related news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 15,813 shares of the company's 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 in the company, valued at approximately $24,935,577.48. This represents a 11.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 1,881 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.13, for a total value of $400,897.53. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,159 shares in the company, valued at $460,147.67. This represents a 46.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 25,756 shares of company stock worth $5,521,004. Insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on ROST shares. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Ross Stores from $240.00 to $261.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Zacks Research lowered Ross Stores from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Ross Stores from $248.00 to $251.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday. Truist Financial initiated coverage on Ross Stores in a research note on Monday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $270.00 price target for the company. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Ross Stores from $205.00 to $221.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $218.56.

Key Stories Impacting Ross Stores

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

• Positive Sentiment: Ross Stores beat Wall Street’s Q1 expectations, posting EPS of $2.02 versus estimates of $1.70 and revenue of $6.01 billion versus $5.64 billion expected, with sales up 20.6% year over year. Ross Stores (ROST) Q1 Earnings and Revenues Top Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: The company lifted full-year guidance, now expecting fiscal 2026 EPS of $7.50 to $7.74, above consensus, and Q2 EPS of $1.85 to $1.93, also ahead of estimates. Ross Stores Reports Robust First Quarter Sales and Earnings Results, Significantly Exceeding Guidance
• Positive Sentiment: Ross Stores also raised its comparable sales outlook for the year to 6% to 7% from a prior view of up 3% to 4%, signaling continued demand for value merchandise. Ross Stores Lifts Outlook as Sales Jump
• Positive Sentiment: Management’s upbeat results and stronger outlook suggest the off-price model is benefiting from cautious consumers trading down, which is a favorable setup for ROST. Ross Stores surges on strong earnings and revenue beat
• Neutral Sentiment: The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.445 per share, reinforcing its shareholder return profile, though this is not a major short-term catalyst. Ross Stores Announces Quarterly Dividend
• Neutral Sentiment: Some commentary on the earnings call noted tariff risks, but this appears secondary to the stronger-than-expected quarter and raised guidance. Ross Stores Balances Solid Quarter With Tariff Risks

Ross Stores Trading Down 0.3%

ROST stock opened at $217.19 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $69.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.86, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.87. The business's 50-day moving average is $218.62 and its 200 day moving average is $196.78. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12-month low of $124.49 and a 12-month high of $231.16. 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 (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The apparel retailer reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $6.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.64 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 36.70% and a net margin of 9.43%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $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. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 7.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.445 per share. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 9th. Ross Stores's payout ratio is currently 26.93%.

Ross Stores Company 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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