Lazard Asset Management LLC Acquires 328,814 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 608.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 382,854 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 328,814 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $82,938,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of ROST. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its holdings in Ross Stores by 7,000.0% during the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 142 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the period. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Bard Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. City Holding Co. raised its position in shares of Ross Stores by 1,080.0% during the fourth quarter. City Holding Co. now owns 177 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virtus Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $261.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and set a $257.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $240.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Ross Stores from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $233.18.

Ross Stores Stock Up 1.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:ROST opened at $243.35 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $78.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The business’s 50-day moving average is $227.08 and its 200-day moving average is $214.43. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1 year low of $134.37 and a 1 year high of $244.22.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced 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. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 38.42% and a net margin of 9.74%.The company had revenue of $6.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.47 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. 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. Equities research analysts predict that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 7.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th were issued a dividend of $0.445 per share. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 9th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.86%.

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.