Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST Shares Sold by Rakuten Investment Management Inc.

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. lessened its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 43.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 60,338 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 47,162 shares during the quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $10,904,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ROST. Abound Financial LLC acquired a new position in Ross Stores in the 4th quarter worth $121,000. L2 Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ross Stores by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. L2 Asset Management LLC now owns 1,604 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $289,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the 4th quarter worth about $661,000. TritonPoint Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the 4th quarter worth about $275,000. Finally, USS Investment Management Ltd increased its position in shares of Ross Stores by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd now owns 63,662 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $11,471,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ross Stores

In other news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 15,813 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.91, for a total transaction of $3,398,371.83. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 116,028 shares in the company, valued at $24,935,577.48. This represents a 11.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Karen Sykes sold 5,506 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.40, for a total transaction of $1,174,980.40. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 104,648 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,331,883.20. This trade represents a 5.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ROST has been the topic of several research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 6th. Telsey Advisory Group upped their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $240.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $261.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and set a $257.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $242.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. One 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $233.18.

Ross Stores Stock Down 1.0%

Ross Stores stock opened at $234.49 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $225.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $205.37. Ross Stores, Inc. has a twelve month low of $124.49 and a twelve month high of $242.81. The firm has a market cap of $75.22 billion, a PE ratio of 32.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.54.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The apparel retailer reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.29. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.74% and a return on equity of 38.42%. 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 business posted $1.47 EPS. Ross Stores’s quarterly revenue was up 20.6% on a year-over-year basis. 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 predict that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 7.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.445 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is 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.