Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST Shares Purchased by Quantbot Technologies LP

Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its position in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 18.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 20,458 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,229 shares during the quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $2,610,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ROST. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. grew its stake in Ross Stores by 14.0% in the 1st quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 4,753 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $607,000 after acquiring an additional 584 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Ross Stores by 17.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,121,706 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $4,360,413,000 after acquiring an additional 4,946,101 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 5.6% in the first quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 2,729 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $349,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the first quarter valued at approximately $3,017,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Ross Stores by 1.1% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,971,294 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $251,912,000 after purchasing an additional 21,473 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ROST. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Ross Stores from $171.00 to $188.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 21st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Erste Group Bank started coverage on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Friday, October 31st. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ross Stores from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 15th. 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, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $180.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO James Grant Conroy sold 39,351 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.00, for a total value of $5,745,246.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 157,153 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,944,338. This trade represents a 20.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Stephen C. Brinkley sold 6,437 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.97, for a total value of $971,793.89. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 57,012 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,607,101.64. This trade represents a 10.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 48,720 shares of company stock valued at $7,154,172 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Trading Up 0.4%

NASDAQ ROST opened at $177.87 on Friday. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12 month low of $122.36 and a 12 month high of $179.05. The company has a 50-day moving average of $161.57 and a 200-day moving average of $147.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The company has a market cap of $57.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.79, a P/E/G ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 1.03.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The apparel retailer reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.20. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 37.21%. The business had revenue of $5.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.38 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.48 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. Ross Stores has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.380-6.46 EPS and its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.770-1.85 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 9th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is currently 25.31%.

Ross Stores Company 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.