Prudential Financial Inc. Has $28.78 Million Stock Holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Prudential Financial Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 15.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 190,258 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after selling 33,678 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. owned about 0.06% of Ross Stores worth $28,780,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. ICW Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 18,391 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $2,782,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the period. Stevens Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Ross Stores during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,013,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in Ross Stores during the fourth quarter valued at about $17,221,000. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its position in shares of Ross Stores by 45.4% in the fourth quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 31,444 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $4,757,000 after purchasing an additional 9,813 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blueshift Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the fourth quarter worth about $1,893,000. Institutional investors own 86.86% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CMO Karen Fleming sold 5,339 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.73, for a total value of $671,272.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 94,063 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,826,540.99. The trade was a 5.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 7,492 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.69, for a total transaction of $956,653.48. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 139,091 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,760,529.79. This trade represents a 5.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

ROST has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group dropped 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 report on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a "negative" rating on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $160.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $161.40.

Ross Stores Price Performance

ROST stock traded down $3.67 during trading on Friday, hitting $125.42. The company had a trading volume of 2,273,611 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,560,499. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $137.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $144.77. Ross Stores, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $122.36 and a fifty-two week high of $163.60. The company has a market cap of $41.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.15. 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 issued its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The apparel retailer reported $1.79 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.95 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 41.83%. Equities research analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. This is a positive change from Ross Stores's previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.29%. Ross Stores's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.63%.

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.