Nicholas Investment Partners LP Acquires New Holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Nicholas Investment Partners LP acquired a new position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 4,291 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $773,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Focus Partners Wealth increased its stake in Ross Stores by 53.8% during the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 34,043 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $6,133,000 after buying an additional 11,910 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 89.8% in the 4th quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 312,453 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $56,285,000 after acquiring an additional 147,843 shares during the period. Dockside LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the 4th quarter worth approximately $614,000. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,382,000. Finally, Bard Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ROST has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Monday, April 27th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Ross Stores from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Telsey Advisory Group lifted their price target on Ross Stores from $240.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Ross Stores from $261.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. One equities research 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $233.18.

Ross Stores Price Performance

NASDAQ ROST opened at $240.13 on Monday. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12 month low of $124.49 and a 12 month high of $242.81. The company has a market capitalization of $77.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.54, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.86. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $224.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $204.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 0.94.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The apparel retailer reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $6.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.64 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.74% and a return on equity of 38.42%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.47 earnings per share. 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 expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 7.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be issued a $0.445 dividend. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 9th. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is presently 24.86%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CMO Karen Sykes sold 5,506 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the chief marketing officer directly owned 104,648 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,331,883.20. The trade was a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 15,813 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.91, for a total value of $3,398,371.83. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 116,028 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,935,577.48. This represents a 11.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

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.