Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Grows Stock Holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund boosted its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 79.4% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 87,235 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 38,615 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $18,898,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Ross Stores by 459.5% in the first quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC now owns 26,095 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $5,653,000 after buying an additional 21,431 shares in the last quarter. Platform Technology Partners purchased a new position in Ross Stores during the first quarter worth $281,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its position in shares of Ross Stores by 5.1% in the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,064 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $454,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 23.8% during the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,019 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $221,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the period. Finally, USS Investment Management Ltd boosted its position in Ross Stores by 3.3% during the first quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd now owns 65,738 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $14,238,000 after acquiring an additional 2,076 shares during the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on ROST shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $240.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $248.00 to $251.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $270.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $290.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Monday, April 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ross Stores currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $233.18.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ROST opened at $213.43 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12 month low of $126.32 and a 12 month high of $242.81. The company’s 50 day moving average is $225.11 and its 200-day moving average is $209.10. The firm has a market cap of $68.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.87.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 21st. The apparel retailer reported $2.02 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.47 earnings per share. Ross Stores’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 analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 7.74 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 9th were paid a $0.445 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is currently 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.