ING Groep NV Has $29.03 Million Holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

ING Groep NV lowered its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 32.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 192,901 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after selling 91,126 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV owned approximately 0.06% of Ross Stores worth $29,034,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its position in shares of Ross Stores by 262.1% in the second quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 210 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Ross Stores by 97.8% in the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 275 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup downgraded Ross Stores from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $179.00 to $152.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America lifted their price target on Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Ross Stores from $173.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. UBS Group lifted their price target on Ross Stores from $147.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut Ross Stores from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $170.00.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ROST traded up $1.87 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $142.33. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,184,887 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,269,432. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.56. Ross Stores, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $119.73 and a fifty-two week high of $163.60. The business's 50 day moving average price is $146.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $144.05. The company has a market cap of $47.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.09.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The apparel retailer reported $1.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.09. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.82% and a return on equity of 42.43%. The company had revenue of $5.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.32 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th were given a $0.3675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.03%. Ross Stores's payout ratio is 23.71%.

Insider Activity

In other Ross Stores news, CEO Barbara Rentler sold 48,885 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.93, for a total transaction of $7,524,868.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 311,853 shares in the company, valued at $48,003,532.29. The trade was a 13.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.64, for a total transaction of $1,302,084.24. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 103,049 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,038,546.36. This represents a 7.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 72,138 shares of company stock worth $11,093,051. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

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.