Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST Stock Holdings Increased by National Pension Service

Key Points

• National Pension Service boosted its Ross Stores stake by 138.4% in the fourth quarter, buying 754,816 additional shares to bring its total to 1.3 million shares worth about $234.2 million.
• Ross Stores reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $2.02 versus the $1.73 estimate and revenue of $6.01 billion versus $5.64 billion expected. The company also raised guidance for FY 2026 and Q2 2026.
• Analysts remain generally bullish on the stock, with several firms raising price targets and Ross Stores trading near its 52-week high. The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.445 per share, payable June 30.

National Pension Service boosted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 138.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,300,056 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 754,816 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned approximately 0.40% of Ross Stores worth $234,192,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in Ross Stores by 1.9% during the third 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 acquiring an additional 180,182 shares in the last quarter. Viking Global Investors LP raised its position in Ross Stores by 9.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 426,370 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Ross Stores by 5.7% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,655,932 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $709,518,000 after acquiring an additional 252,284 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in Ross Stores by 10.2% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,045,346 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $616,470,000 after acquiring an additional 375,470 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshfield Associates raised its position in Ross Stores by 4.1% during the third quarter. Marshfield Associates now owns 4,020,413 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $612,671,000 after acquiring an additional 157,385 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.86% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $261.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $242.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $240.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $270.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $233.18.

Ross Stores Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of Ross Stores stock opened at $231.73 on Friday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $221.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $199.53. The company has a market cap of $74.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.36, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1 year low of $124.49 and a 1 year high of $237.41.

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 (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate of $5.64 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.74% and a return on equity of 38.42%. Ross Stores's quarterly revenue was up 20.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company 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. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 7.75 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Ross Stores

In other Ross Stores news, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 1,881 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director owned 2,159 shares of the company's stock, valued at $460,147.67. The trade was a 46.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CMO Karen Sykes sold 5,506 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 25,756 shares of company stock valued at $5,521,004 in the last 90 days. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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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