Arkadios Wealth Advisors Lowers Stock Holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Arkadios Wealth Advisors lowered its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 15.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 14,878 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after selling 2,747 shares during the quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors' holdings in Ross Stores were worth $2,251,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Canoe Financial LP boosted its position in Ross Stores by 20.9% during the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 636,557 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $96,292,000 after acquiring an additional 110,234 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 16.3% during the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,549 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $234,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 25.7% during the 4th quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,983 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $300,000 after purchasing an additional 406 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Ross Stores by 264.5% in the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 6,944 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $1,050,000 after purchasing an additional 5,039 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,129,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company's stock.

Ross Stores Stock Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ ROST traded up $0.15 during trading on Friday, reaching $149.15. 3,011,200 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,873,334. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $150.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $147.80. The stock has a market cap of $49.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.10. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1 year low of $127.53 and a 1 year high of $163.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.57.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.07. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. The firm had revenue of $5.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.33 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th were given a dividend of $0.3675 per share. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 10th. Ross Stores's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.15%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ROST has been the subject of several analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group restated a "market perform" rating and issued a $175.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Monday, November 18th. Citigroup cut shares of Ross Stores from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $179.00 to $152.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com cut Ross Stores from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $171.29.

About Ross Stores

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.