Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) Shares Sold by Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd decreased its position in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 22.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 15,598 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after selling 4,451 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd's holdings in Ross Stores were worth $2,348,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. PGGM Investments raised its position in shares of Ross Stores by 724.1% in the 2nd quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 24,848 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $3,611,000 after buying an additional 21,833 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 917.2% in the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 29,498 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $4,440,000 after purchasing an additional 26,598 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 47.5% during the 2nd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 13,124 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $1,907,000 after purchasing an additional 4,228 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its position in Ross Stores by 48.8% during the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 49,523 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $7,454,000 after purchasing an additional 16,248 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in Ross Stores by 10.3% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,737,042 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $397,747,000 after buying an additional 254,720 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on ROST. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded Ross Stores from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $165.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 14th. TD Cowen lowered 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 report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Citigroup cut shares of Ross Stores from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $179.00 to $152.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Five 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $171.69.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ROST traded down $0.47 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $155.77. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,228,713 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,347,760. 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 $145.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $146.42. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1-year low of $127.53 and a 1-year high of $163.60. The firm has a market cap of $51.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.10.

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 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 business had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.33 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders 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 payout ratio is 23.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ross Stores

In other news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.