Legal & General Group Plc Cuts Stake in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Legal & General Group Plc cut its stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,111,026 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 94,539 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.65% of Ross Stores worth $269,325,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ROST. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC raised its holdings in Ross Stores by 25.5% in the first quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 4,663 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $596,000 after buying an additional 947 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Ross Stores by 7.8% during the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 15,085 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,928,000 after acquiring an additional 1,089 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in Ross Stores by 377.8% in the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,265 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $289,000 after acquiring an additional 1,791 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Ross Stores by 104.8% in the 1st quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,014 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,535,000 after acquiring an additional 6,148 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC lifted its position in Ross Stores by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 11,958 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,528,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Erste Group Bank initiated coverage on Ross Stores in a report on Friday, October 31st. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Ross Stores from $128.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.07.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of ROST opened at $174.00 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.62, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Ross Stores, Inc. has a one year low of $122.36 and a one year high of $174.86. The business has a fifty day moving average of $155.63 and a 200 day moving average of $145.87.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The apparel retailer reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.38 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $5.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.38 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 37.37% and a net margin of 9.60%.Ross Stores’s revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.48 earnings per share. Ross Stores has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.380-6.46 EPS. Q4 2025 guidance at 1.770-1.85 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 9th will be given a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 9th. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is 25.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ross Stores

In other news, insider Stephen C. Brinkley sold 6,437 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.97, for a total transaction of $971,793.89. Following the transaction, the insider owned 57,012 shares in the company, valued at $8,607,101.64. This trade represents a 10.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Karen Sykes sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.76, for a total transaction of $607,040.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer directly owned 106,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,149,236.88. The trade was a 3.62% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 52,720 shares of company stock valued at $7,761,212 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Profile

Ross Stores, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates off-price retail apparel and home fashion stores under the Ross Dress for Less and dd’s DISCOUNTS brand names in the United States. Its stores primarily offer apparel, accessories, footwear, and home fashions. The company’s Ross Dress for Less stores sell its products at department and specialty stores to middle income households; and dd’s DISCOUNTS stores sell its products at department and discount stores for households with moderate income.