Bank of Montreal Can cut its position in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 10.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 433,766 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after selling 48,620 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can owned 0.13% of Ross Stores worth $65,616,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ROST. FMR LLC raised its stake in Ross Stores by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,620,083 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $1,152,690,000 after buying an additional 807,850 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 236,262 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $35,739,000 after acquiring an additional 25,970 shares in the last quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co increased its position in Ross Stores by 311.5% during the fourth quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 59,446 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $8,992,000 after acquiring an additional 45,000 shares during the period. Payden & Rygel raised its stake in Ross Stores by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Payden & Rygel now owns 119,800 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $18,122,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wedbush Securities Inc. raised its stake in Ross Stores by 43.0% in the 4th quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 6,747 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $1,021,000 after purchasing an additional 2,030 shares in the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several research analysts have recently commented on ROST shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and set a $165.00 target price (down from $178.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $160.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Telsey Advisory Group lowered 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 report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Ross Stores from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $140.00 to $150.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Barclays set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $160.87.
Read Our Latest Analysis on ROST
Ross Stores Trading Down 1.4 %
Shares of ROST stock traded down $2.02 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $141.65. 728,520 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,648,892. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $133.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $143.05. The firm has a market cap of $46.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.11. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $122.36 and a fifty-two week high of $163.60.
Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The apparel retailer reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.95 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 41.83%. Equities analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current year.
Ross Stores Increases Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were given a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.14%. This is a positive change from Ross Stores's previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. Ross Stores's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.63%.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 7,492 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 139,091 shares in the company, valued at $17,760,529.79. This trade represents a 5.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Karen Fleming sold 5,339 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.73, for a total transaction of $671,272.47. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 94,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,826,540.99. This trade represents a 5.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 34,398 shares of company stock worth $4,439,950 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.
About Ross Stores
(
Free Report)
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.
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