First Eagle Investment Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

First Eagle Investment Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 17.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,494,639 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after selling 317,905 shares during the quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC owned 0.45% of Ross Stores worth $226,094,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,137,281 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $2,127,802,000 after purchasing an additional 67,861 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $1,222,915,000 after acquiring an additional 34,475 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its stake in Ross Stores by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,812,233 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $1,025,309,000 after acquiring an additional 316,652 shares during the period. Marshfield Associates grew its stake in Ross Stores by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Marshfield Associates now owns 3,908,958 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $588,337,000 after acquiring an additional 14,193 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in 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 valued at $581,373,000 after acquiring an additional 1,507,922 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on ROST shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of 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. 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. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $185.00 to $177.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Barclays set a $150.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $161.40.

Ross Stores Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ ROST traded down $1.83 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $123.71. 3,359,455 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,386,059. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12-month low of $122.77 and a 12-month 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 company has a fifty day moving average price of $142.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $146.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.82 billion, a PE ratio of 19.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.15.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The apparel retailer reported $1.79 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.14. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. The business had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.95 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect 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 will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a $0.405 dividend. This is a positive change from Ross Stores's previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Ross Stores's payout ratio is 25.63%.

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.