Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST Position Trimmed by Ieq Capital LLC

Key Points

• Ieq Capital LLC has reduced its holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. by 52.5%, selling 24,677 shares and bringing its total shares down to 22,313, with a total value of approximately $2.85 million.
• Analysts have recently set new price targets for Ross Stores, with UBS and JPMorgan raising their targets to $170.00 and $160.00 respectively, reflecting a positive outlook among market experts.
• Ross Stores announced a quarterly dividend of $0.405 per share, with an annualized yield of 1.1%, indicating a solid commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Ieq Capital LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 52.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,313 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after selling 24,677 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC's holdings in Ross Stores were worth $2,851,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROST. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group purchased a new position in Ross Stores in the fourth quarter valued at about $236,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its position in Ross Stores by 12.8% in the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 25,330 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $3,832,000 after purchasing an additional 2,869 shares during the period. AXA S.A. raised its position in Ross Stores by 20.0% in the fourth quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 160,750 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $24,317,000 after purchasing an additional 26,817 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,199 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $484,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares during the period. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Ross Stores during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $176,973,000. 86.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ross Stores Stock Up 1.6%

Ross Stores stock traded up $2.40 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $153.13. The stock had a trading volume of 1,073,843 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,117,512. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The stock has a market cap of $50.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.15. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12 month low of $122.36 and a 12 month high of $158.69. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $139.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $137.61.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $5.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.54 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 37.37% and a net margin of 9.60%.Ross Stores's quarterly revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.59 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 9th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Ross Stores's payout ratio is presently 25.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a "market perform" rating and set a $160.00 price objective (up previously from $150.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $144.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Ross Stores from $128.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Loop Capital dropped their target price on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $160.67.

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.