Alliancebernstein L.P. Sells 117,173 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Alliancebernstein L.P. trimmed its holdings in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 12.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 805,949 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after selling 117,173 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned approximately 0.24% of Ross Stores worth $121,916,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ROST. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 0.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,137,281 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $2,127,802,000 after purchasing an additional 67,861 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Ross Stores by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,152,045 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $1,222,915,000 after purchasing an additional 34,475 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Ross Stores during the 4th quarter valued at $649,318,000. Marshfield Associates lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Marshfield Associates now owns 3,908,958 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $588,337,000 after buying an additional 14,193 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 64.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,862,684 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $581,373,000 after buying an additional 1,507,922 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.86% of the company's stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $160.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Barclays set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Telsey Advisory Group cut their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ross Stores from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $168.00 to $156.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $161.00.

Ross Stores Price Performance

ROST traded down $2.43 on Monday, hitting $127.88. 4,744,755 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,603,730. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $135.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $143.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Ross Stores, Inc. has a one year low of $122.36 and a one year high of $163.60. The firm has a market cap of $42.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.11.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 4th. The apparel retailer reported $1.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.14. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 41.83%. The firm had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.95 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. This is an increase from Ross Stores's previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. Ross Stores's dividend payout ratio is 25.63%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 11,261 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.60, for a total transaction of $1,481,947.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 59,790 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,868,364. This represents a 15.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 7,492 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.69, for a total value of $956,653.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 139,091 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,760,529.79. The trade was a 5.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 34,398 shares of company stock worth $4,439,950 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.10% 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.