Cerity Partners LLC Purchases 53,846 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 65.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 136,052 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after buying an additional 53,846 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in Ross Stores were worth $17,386,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Alps Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 22.2% during the first quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 2,858 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $365,000 after purchasing an additional 519 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 3.6% during the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 4,036 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $565,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 36.7% during the first quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,917 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $245,000 after purchasing an additional 515 shares during the last quarter. Court Place Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 0.4% during the first quarter. Court Place Advisors LLC now owns 48,461 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $6,193,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 1.0% during the first quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 7,744 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $990,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ross Stores Trading Up 0.2%

ROST opened at $131.17 on Monday. The firm's fifty day moving average is $138.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $139.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.55. The firm has a market cap of $42.90 billion, a PE ratio of 20.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.11. Ross Stores, Inc. has a twelve month low of $122.36 and a twelve month high of $163.60.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The apparel retailer reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $4.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.94 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.79% and a return on equity of 38.77%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.46 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 10th were issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. Ross Stores's payout ratio is 25.59%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on ROST. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $128.00 to $126.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Loop Capital decreased their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Ross Stores from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $158.94.

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.

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