Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Has $2.95 Billion Stock Position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 25.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,515,891 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after buying an additional 3,995,760 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned approximately 5.92% of Ross Stores worth $2,952,170,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 152.9% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 177 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in Ross Stores during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. ORG Partners LLC raised its holdings in Ross Stores by 434.1% during the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 235 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Ross Stores during the 4th quarter worth approximately $51,000. Finally, Oakworth Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the 4th quarter worth approximately $57,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Ross Stores from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $168.00 to $163.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note 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 note on Wednesday, March 5th. Telsey Advisory Group cut their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Ross Stores from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $140.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $160.87.

Ross Stores Stock Up 1.8 %

Ross Stores stock opened at $137.89 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $133.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $142.71. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $122.36 and a 1-year high of $163.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.71, a P/E/G 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. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.95 billion. On average, analysts predict that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. Ross Stores's payout ratio is 25.63%.

Insider Transactions at Ross Stores

In other news, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 11,261 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.60, for a total transaction of $1,481,947.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 59,790 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,868,364. The trade was a 15.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CMO Karen Sykes sold 5,036 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.48, for a total transaction of $657,097.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 110,365 shares in the company, valued at $14,400,425.20. This represents a 4.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 34,398 shares of company stock valued at $4,439,950. 2.10% of the stock is currently 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.

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