Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) Shares Bought by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 8.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,965,695 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 151,255 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.59% of Ross Stores worth $295,857,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Ross Stores by 4.0% during the second quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,197 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $319,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of Ross Stores by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 3,673 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $534,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Kintegral Advisory LLC lifted its stake 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 worth $428,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 5,929 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $862,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Ross Stores by 1.4% in the third quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 6,214 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $935,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.86% of the company's stock.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Ross Stores stock traded up $2.40 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $144.44. The company had a trading volume of 1,442,733 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,244,774. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The company has a market capitalization of $47.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.09. The company's fifty day moving average is $147.55 and its 200-day moving average is $143.75. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12-month low of $119.73 and a 12-month high of $163.60.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 analysts' expectations of $5.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.32 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.2 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 10th were issued a $0.3675 dividend. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 10th. Ross Stores's payout ratio is presently 23.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Loop Capital lifted their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. UBS Group upped their price target on Ross Stores from $147.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded Ross Stores from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, September 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Ross Stores from $163.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $171.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 103,049 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,038,546.36. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 103,049 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,038,546.36. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 14,887 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.22, for a total transaction of $2,266,099.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 11,133 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,694,665.26. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. 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. Company 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.