Bridgewater Associates LP Acquires 9,149 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Bridgewater Associates LP grew its position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 37.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 33,391 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 9,149 shares during the period. Bridgewater Associates LP's holdings in Ross Stores were worth $5,026,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 55,682 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $8,381,000 after purchasing an additional 3,431 shares in the last quarter. Avestar Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 7.5% in the third quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 1,663 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $250,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the third quarter valued at about $200,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 3.3% in the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 45,759 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $6,887,000 after buying an additional 1,459 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 4.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,812,233 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $1,025,309,000 after buying an additional 316,652 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was 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 owns 103,049 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,038,546.36. This represents a 7.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 14,887 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.22, for a total value of $2,266,099.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 11,133 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,694,665.26. The trade was a 57.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

Ross Stores Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of ROST traded down $0.02 on Friday, hitting $154.87. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,323,540 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,333,026. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $145.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $145.35. Ross Stores, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $127.53 and a fifty-two week high of $163.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.09.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. The firm had revenue of $5.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.15 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.33 EPS. The business's revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be given a dividend of $0.3675 per share. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 10th. Ross Stores's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ROST. TD Cowen cut 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. Loop Capital boosted their price objective on Ross Stores from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Ross Stores from $147.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a "market perform" rating and set a $175.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $165.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $171.69.

Ross Stores Company Profile

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.