Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST Position Lessened by Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV

Key Points

• Azzad Asset Management cut its Ross Stores stake by 23.4% in the first quarter, selling 5,382 shares and leaving it with 17,611 shares valued at about $3.8 million.
• Ross Stores reported strong quarterly earnings, posting $2.02 EPS on revenue of $6.01 billion, both ahead of analyst expectations, and raised guidance for the year ahead.
• Wall Street sentiment remains favorable overall, with the stock carrying a Moderate Buy rating and an average price target of $233.18; Ross also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.445 per share.

Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV reduced its stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 23.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 17,611 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after selling 5,382 shares during the quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV's holdings in Ross Stores were worth $3,815,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in Ross Stores by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,911,953 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $2,506,099,000 after purchasing an additional 99,975 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in Ross Stores by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 9,762,583 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $1,487,720,000 after purchasing an additional 180,182 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its position in Ross Stores by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,436,788 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $979,384,000 after purchasing an additional 79,519 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $868,360,000. Finally, Viking Global Investors LP increased its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 9.9% in the second quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 4,747,639 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $605,704,000 after purchasing an additional 426,370 shares during the period. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on ROST shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on Ross Stores from $242.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Ross Stores from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Ross Stores from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $245.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Zacks Research raised Ross Stores from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Ross Stores from $248.00 to $251.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the 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.

Ross Stores Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of ROST stock opened at $220.60 on Friday. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1 year low of $126.32 and a 1 year high of $242.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.54. The business's fifty day moving average is $224.29 and its 200-day moving average is $210.22. The stock has a market cap of $70.76 billion, a PE ratio of 30.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.87.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 21st. The apparel retailer reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.29. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 38.42% and a net margin of 9.74%.The business had revenue of $6.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.47 earnings per share. The company's revenue 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 analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 7.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th were paid a $0.445 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Ross Stores's payout ratio is currently 24.86%.

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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