Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST Shares Sold by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Key Points

• JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut its Ross Stores stake by 24.5% in the fourth quarter, selling 3.15 million shares and leaving it with 9.72 million shares worth about $1.75 billion.
• Ross Stores reported a strong quarter, with EPS of $2.02 versus the $1.73 estimate and revenue of $6.01 billion, well above expectations and up 20.6% year over year.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.445 per share, while analysts remain broadly positive with a consensus Moderate Buy rating and an average target price of $233.18.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lessened its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 24.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,720,960 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after selling 3,151,541 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 3.01% of Ross Stores worth $1,751,134,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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% in 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 purchasing an additional 180,182 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the 4th quarter valued at about $868,360,000. Viking Global Investors LP raised its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 9.9% in 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 purchasing an additional 426,370 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,655,932 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $709,518,000 after purchasing an additional 252,284 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 10.2% in 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 purchasing an additional 375,470 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company's stock.

Ross Stores Price Performance

NASDAQ ROST opened at $227.42 on Tuesday. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52 week low of $124.49 and a 52 week high of $237.41. 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 stock has a market cap of $72.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $223.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $202.64.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The apparel retailer reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.29. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.74% and a return on equity of 38.42%. The firm had revenue of $6.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.47 EPS. Ross Stores's quarterly 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. Analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 7.73 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

ROST has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $227.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $257.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $290.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $242.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Ross Stores from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ross Stores currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $233.18.

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Karen Sykes sold 5,506 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.40, for a total value of $1,174,980.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 104,648 shares in the company, valued at $22,331,883.20. This trade represents a 5.00% 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, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 15,813 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.91, for a total transaction of $3,398,371.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 116,028 shares of the company's stock, valued at $24,935,577.48. This trade represents a 11.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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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