Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Reduces Stock Holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership reduced its position in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 62.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 505,734 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after selling 838,515 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned 0.15% of Ross Stores worth $76,502,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ROST. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 152.9% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 177 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in Ross Stores during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. ORG Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 434.1% during the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 235 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the fourth quarter valued at about $51,000. Finally, Oakworth Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the fourth quarter worth about $57,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on ROST shares. Telsey Advisory Group dropped their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com downgraded Ross Stores from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Ross Stores from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $160.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered 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 report on Wednesday, March 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $161.00.

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Ross Stores Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of ROST traded down $0.15 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $131.07. 3,255,891 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,579,136. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52-week low of $122.36 and a 52-week 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. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $136.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $144.23. The firm has a market cap of $43.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.15.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The apparel retailer reported $1.79 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.95 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. This is a positive change from Ross Stores's previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. Ross Stores's dividend payout ratio is 25.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ross Stores

In related news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 7,492 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.69, for a total value of $956,653.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 139,091 shares in the company, valued at $17,760,529.79. The trade was a 5.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Karen Fleming sold 5,339 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.73, for a total transaction of $671,272.47. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 94,063 shares in the company, valued at $11,826,540.99. The trade was a 5.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 18,101 shares of company stock valued at $2,300,905 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

Ross Stores Company 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.