First Trust Advisors LP Acquires 212,991 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 6.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,694,269 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after buying an additional 212,991 shares during the quarter. Ross Stores makes up about 0.6% of First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. First Trust Advisors LP owned 1.15% of Ross Stores worth $800,289,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ROST. Somerset Trust Co lifted its position in Ross Stores by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Somerset Trust Co now owns 14,788 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $2,664,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance increased its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 3,309 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $596,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC now owns 954 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $172,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Florida Trust Wealth Management Co boosted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Florida Trust Wealth Management Co now owns 3,399 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $612,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 1,292 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $233,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

ROST stock opened at $235.81 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.64 billion, a PE ratio of 32.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.87. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12-month low of $133.14 and a 12-month high of $242.81. 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $225.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $212.91.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The apparel retailer reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 return on equity of 38.42% and a net margin of 9.74%.The company’s revenue was up 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $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. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 7.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 9th were given a dividend of $0.445 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.86%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ROST has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $257.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Barclays lifted their price target on Ross Stores from $242.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $248.00 to $251.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.