Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST Shares Sold by Madison Asset Management LLC

Madison Asset Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 6.3% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,412,924 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 94,463 shares during the period. Ross Stores accounts for about 3.8% of Madison Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Madison Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $306,082,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Ethic Inc. grew its holdings in Ross Stores by 25.6% in the 4th quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 23,772 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $4,282,000 after buying an additional 4,847 shares during the period. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 61.1% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 45,043 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $8,114,000 after acquiring an additional 17,090 shares during the period. National Pension Service boosted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 138.4% in the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,300,056 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $234,192,000 after acquiring an additional 754,816 shares during the last quarter. Financial Planning Hawaii Inc. purchased a new stake in Ross Stores in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,542,000. Finally, Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. acquired a new position in Ross Stores during the fourth quarter worth approximately $204,750,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ROST. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Ross Stores from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Wall Street Zen lowered Ross Stores from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Ross Stores from $248.00 to $251.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and set a $257.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $233.18.

Ross Stores Price Performance

ROST opened at $235.78 on Tuesday. 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 52-week low of $130.49 and a 52-week high of $242.81. The company has a 50 day moving average of $224.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $212.52. The company has a market cap of $75.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.87.

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

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 9th were issued a $0.445 dividend. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 9th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.86%.

Ross Stores Company Profile

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.