First Trust Advisors LP Raises Position in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 30.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,669,876 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 849,391 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 1.12% of Ross Stores worth $468,203,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Guggenheim Capital LLC lifted its position in Ross Stores by 29.0% in the second quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 120,793 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $15,411,000 after buying an additional 27,177 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 65.1% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,956 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $249,000 after acquiring an additional 771 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 10.2% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,403,648 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $561,817,000 after acquiring an additional 406,073 shares during the last quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the 2nd quarter worth about $240,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in Ross Stores by 60.8% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 828,300 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $105,675,000 after purchasing an additional 313,169 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ ROST opened at $178.00 on Thursday. Ross Stores, Inc. has a twelve month low of $122.36 and a twelve month high of $178.80. The firm has a market cap of $57.89 billion, a PE ratio of 27.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $160.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $147.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The apparel retailer reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $5.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.38 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 37.21% and a net margin of 9.47%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.48 earnings per share. 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. Analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on ROST. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $171.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Ross Stores from $170.00 to $182.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $163.00 to $169.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $128.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $177.73.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Stephen C. Brinkley sold 6,437 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.97, for a total transaction of $971,793.89. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 57,012 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,607,101.64. This trade represents a 10.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CMO Karen Fleming sold 2,932 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.09, for a total transaction of $437,131.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 88,335 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,169,865.15. This trade represents a 3.21% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 48,720 shares of company stock worth $7,154,172. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores 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.