Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) Holdings Cut by Gateway Investment Advisers LLC

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC decreased its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 3.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,533 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 90 shares during the quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $372,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,569,718 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $3,953,763,000 after purchasing an additional 381,790 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,931,795 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $682,511,000 after purchasing an additional 161,202 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 14.6% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,722,885 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $653,600,000 after purchasing an additional 601,031 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the 4th quarter valued at $523,185,000. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,215,353 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $250,224,000 after purchasing an additional 247,513 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 941 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.37, for a total transaction of $130,206.17. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 973 shares in the company, valued at approximately $134,634.01. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 24th. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and set a $160.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Friday, June 14th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $147.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 24th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $163.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 24th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ross Stores currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $156.58.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Shares of Ross Stores stock opened at $148.74 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.54. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $137.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $140.21. Ross Stores, Inc. has a twelve month low of $107.30 and a twelve month high of $151.12. The firm has a market cap of $49.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.08.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 23rd. The apparel retailer reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.11. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.60% and a return on equity of 42.24%. The business had revenue of $4.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.83 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.09 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 5.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, March 5th that permits the company to buyback $2.10 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the apparel retailer to purchase up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 11th will be given a dividend of $0.3675 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 11th. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.79%.

Ross Stores 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.