AXQ Capital LP Takes $700,000 Position in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

AXQ Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 3,886 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $700,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Somerset Trust Co raised its position in shares of Ross Stores by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Somerset Trust Co now owns 14,788 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $2,664,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance raised its position in shares of Ross Stores by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 3,309 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $596,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC raised its position in shares of Ross Stores by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC now owns 954 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $172,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Florida Trust Wealth Management Co raised its position in shares of Ross Stores by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Florida Trust Wealth Management Co now owns 3,399 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $612,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Finally, JFS Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Ross Stores by 42.6% during the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 211 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 1,881 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.13, for a total transaction of $400,897.53. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $460,147.67. The trade was a 46.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 15,813 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.91, for a total transaction of $3,398,371.83. Following the transaction, 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 25,756 shares of company stock valued at $5,521,004 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on ROST shares. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $240.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $270.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $261.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $233.18.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ROST opened at $223.82 on Wednesday. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52 week low of $124.49 and a 52 week high of $237.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.26, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.86. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $221.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $200.22. 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 (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 21st. The apparel retailer reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.29. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.74% and a return on equity of 38.42%. The business had revenue of $6.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.64 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.47 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 20.6% on a year-over-year basis. 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 7.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be paid a $0.445 dividend. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 9th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.