Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Buys 6,580 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 153,583 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 6,580 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.'s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $23,116,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new stake in Ross Stores during the second quarter worth about $27,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 262.1% during the 2nd quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 210 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Ross Stores in the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new position in Ross Stores during the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC raised its position in Ross Stores by 97.8% during the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 275 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ROST has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Ross Stores from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Ross Stores from $162.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ross Stores from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Five equities 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $171.69.

Ross Stores Trading Down 0.1 %

ROST traded down $0.13 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $156.48. 3,692,153 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,192,596. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $145.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $145.88. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1-year low of $127.53 and a 1-year high of $163.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.15 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Ross Stores

In other Ross Stores news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 103,049 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,038,546.36. The trade was a 7.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.