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

Nordea Investment Management AB lessened its holdings in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 94.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 46,264 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 751,441 shares during the quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $7,003,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ROST. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Ross Stores by 14.8% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 39,182,660 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $4,998,924,000 after buying an additional 5,060,954 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Ross Stores during the 2nd quarter worth $521,159,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Ross Stores by 20.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 9,582,401 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,222,523,000 after purchasing an additional 1,657,008 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in Ross Stores by 30.1% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,669,876 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $468,203,000 after purchasing an additional 849,391 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Scopus Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the 2nd quarter valued at about $102,281,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ROST has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $205.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Friday, January 9th. BTIG Research initiated coverage on Ross Stores in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Zacks Research raised Ross Stores from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Guggenheim raised Ross Stores to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $186.41.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of ROST opened at $192.36 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $178.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $157.97. The firm has a market cap of $62.22 billion, a PE ratio of 30.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 1.01. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12-month low of $122.36 and a 12-month high of $194.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released 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. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 36.75%. The firm had revenue of $5.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.38 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.48 EPS. Ross Stores’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. 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. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 9th were issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 9th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.31%.

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.