National Pension Service Acquires 754,816 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

National Pension Service raised its holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 138.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,300,056 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 754,816 shares during the period. National Pension Service’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $234,192,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ROST. Bank of America Corp DE boosted 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. Viking Global Investors LP grew its holdings 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 worth $605,704,000 after purchasing an additional 426,370 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings 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 worth $709,518,000 after purchasing an additional 252,284 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings 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 worth $616,470,000 after purchasing an additional 375,470 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshfield Associates grew its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Marshfield Associates now owns 4,020,413 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $612,671,000 after purchasing an additional 157,385 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of NASDAQ ROST opened at $231.73 on Friday. The firm’s 50-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 price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12-month low of $124.49 and a 12-month high of $237.41.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 20.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $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, research analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $0.445 per share. 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%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ross Stores news, CMO Karen Sykes sold 5,506 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 104,648 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,331,883.20. This represents a 5.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 1,881 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were 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. The trade was a 46.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 25,756 shares of company stock worth $5,521,004 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group upped their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $240.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $290.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Monday, April 27th. Zacks Research raised shares of Ross Stores from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $242.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. One 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. According to MarketBeat, Ross Stores presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $233.18.

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.