FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 11.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,620,083 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after buying an additional 807,850 shares during the quarter. FMR LLC owned approximately 2.31% of Ross Stores worth $1,152,690,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. 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 boosted its position in shares of 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 last quarter. 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. Wedbush Securities Inc. increased its holdings in Ross Stores by 43.0% in the 4th quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 6,747 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $1,021,000 after acquiring an additional 2,030 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Ross Stores by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,410,724 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $213,400,000 after purchasing an additional 32,035 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.86% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on ROST shares. Citigroup upgraded Ross Stores from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $146.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Ross Stores from $168.00 to $156.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Barclays set a $150.00 price objective on Ross Stores in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Ross Stores from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein restated a "market perform" rating and issued a $165.00 price target (down previously from $178.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $161.67.
Read Our Latest Research Report on Ross Stores
Insider Activity at Ross Stores
In other Ross Stores news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 7,492 shares of the business'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 transaction of $956,653.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 139,091 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,760,529.79. The trade was a 5.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 11,261 shares of the firm'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 completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 59,790 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,868,364. This trade represents a 15.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 34,398 shares of company stock valued at $4,439,950. 2.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Ross Stores Stock Performance
ROST stock traded up $2.62 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $141.51. 4,388,458 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,653,630. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1-year low of $122.36 and a 1-year high of $163.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $133.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $143.18. The firm has a market cap of $46.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.29, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.11.
Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last announced 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 analyst estimates of $5.95 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. On average, analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current year.
Ross Stores Increases Dividend
The firm 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 is a positive change from Ross Stores's previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.14%. Ross Stores's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.63%.
Ross Stores Company Profile
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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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