Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) Shares Sold by FIL Ltd

FIL Ltd reduced its position in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 90.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,283 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after selling 39,007 shares during the period. FIL Ltd's holdings in Ross Stores were worth $648,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ROST. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,805,427 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $575,647,000 after acquiring an additional 154,486 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Ross Stores by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,620,083 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $1,152,690,000 after purchasing an additional 807,850 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in Ross Stores by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 236,262 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $35,739,000 after buying an additional 25,970 shares in the last quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 311.5% in the fourth quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 59,446 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $8,992,000 after buying an additional 45,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Payden & Rygel grew its stake in Ross Stores by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Payden & Rygel now owns 119,800 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $18,122,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.86% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ROST has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group cut their price objective on Ross Stores from $168.00 to $163.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Telsey Advisory Group reduced their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price 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. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ross Stores from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $160.87.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 value of $671,272.47. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 94,063 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,826,540.99. The trade was a 5.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 11,261 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.60, for a total value of $1,481,947.60. Following the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 34,398 shares of company stock valued at $4,439,950 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

Ross Stores Trading Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ:ROST traded up $0.95 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $139.63. 2,287,417 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,660,164. Ross Stores, Inc. has a twelve month low of $122.36 and a twelve month high of $163.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The business has a 50-day moving average of $133.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $142.94. The company has a market capitalization of $45.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.99, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.11.

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

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th were issued a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. This is a positive change from Ross Stores's previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. Ross Stores's dividend payout ratio is 25.63%.

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.