M&T Bank Corp Trims Stock Position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

M&T Bank Corp cut its holdings in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 11.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 42,284 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after selling 5,601 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp's holdings in Ross Stores were worth $6,364,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Callan Family Office LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the 2nd quarter valued at about $250,000. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ross Stores in the second quarter valued at approximately $345,000. Railway Pension Investments Ltd boosted its position in Ross Stores by 169.8% in the 2nd quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd now owns 14,300 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $2,078,000 after purchasing an additional 9,000 shares in the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 3,673 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $534,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. Finally, Kintegral Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Kintegral Advisory LLC now owns 2,943 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $428,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ROST. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ross Stores from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $165.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on Ross Stores from $185.00 to $177.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Citigroup lowered Ross Stores from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $179.00 to $152.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $171.69.

Ross Stores Price Performance

ROST traded down $0.47 on Monday, reaching $148.68. 1,411,102 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,358,466. Ross Stores, Inc. has a twelve month low of $127.53 and a twelve month high of $163.60. The stock has a market cap of $49.05 billion, a PE ratio of 23.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.10. 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 moving average price is $147.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $147.10.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.15 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 41.83%. The business's revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.33 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be issued a $0.3675 dividend. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 10th. Ross Stores's payout ratio is currently 23.15%.

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.