Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Has $53.12 Million Stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 24.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 352,930 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 69,411 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned 0.11% of Ross Stores worth $53,119,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ROST. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 64.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,862,684 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $581,373,000 after purchasing an additional 1,507,922 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ross Stores by 68.8% during the second quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 2,391,856 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $347,585,000 after acquiring an additional 975,190 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its stake in Ross Stores by 4,787.8% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 629,744 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $94,783,000 after acquiring an additional 616,860 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 59.4% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,261,102 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $183,263,000 after acquiring an additional 469,717 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Ross Stores by 27.8% during the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,814,440 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $263,675,000 after purchasing an additional 394,774 shares during the period. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Ross Stores

In other news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.64, for a total value of $1,302,084.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 103,049 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,038,546.36. The trade was a 7.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ROST traded down $0.47 on Tuesday, hitting $155.77. The company had a trading volume of 2,228,713 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,347,760. The stock has a market cap of $51.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $145.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $146.42. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1-year low of $127.53 and a 1-year high of $163.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Ross Stores's quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.33 EPS. Analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.3675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.94%. Ross Stores's payout ratio is currently 23.15%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on ROST shares. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Loop Capital increased their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Ross Stores from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Barclays increased their target price on Ross Stores from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Ross Stores from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Five 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $171.69.

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.