Geode Capital Management LLC Buys 135,117 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,287,162 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after buying an additional 135,117 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned approximately 2.51% of Ross Stores worth $1,250,423,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 0.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,137,281 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $2,127,802,000 after acquiring an additional 67,861 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Ross Stores during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $649,318,000. Marshfield Associates grew its position in Ross Stores by 0.4% in the third 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 last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 64.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,862,684 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $581,373,000 after acquiring an additional 1,507,922 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,582,472 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $541,921,000 after purchasing an additional 142,200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.86% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $160.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Loop Capital decreased their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $190.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Telsey Advisory Group cut 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 report on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup upgraded Ross Stores from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $146.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $161.00.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of Ross Stores stock traded down $1.16 on Thursday, reaching $131.21. 4,054,721 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,575,903. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $43.29 billion, a PE ratio of 20.66, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a 50 day moving average of $136.29 and a 200 day moving average of $144.23. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52 week low of $122.36 and a 52 week high of $163.60.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The apparel retailer reported $1.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $5.91 billion for 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%. Equities analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th were issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. This is a boost 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 yield of 1.23%. Ross Stores's dividend payout ratio is 25.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

About Ross Stores

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.