Vontobel Holding Ltd. Acquires 1,805 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 46,018 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 1,805 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd.'s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $6,961,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Ross Stores by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,137,281 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $2,127,802,000 after acquiring an additional 67,861 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,152,045 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $1,222,915,000 after buying an additional 34,475 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,812,233 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $1,025,309,000 after buying an additional 316,652 shares during the last quarter. Marshfield Associates lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Marshfield Associates now owns 3,908,958 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $588,337,000 after buying an additional 14,193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 64.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,862,684 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $581,373,000 after buying an additional 1,507,922 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.86% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $165.00 price objective (down previously from $178.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $140.00 price objective (down previously from $164.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Citigroup cut shares of Ross Stores from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $179.00 to $152.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $185.00 to $177.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $169.06.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Shares of Ross Stores stock traded up $0.64 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $139.73. 2,264,147 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,293,847. The stock has a market cap of $46.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.00, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.57. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $148.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $147.91. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12 month low of $127.53 and a 12 month high of $163.60.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 41.83%. The firm's revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.33 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current year.

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.