IFM Investors Pty Ltd Acquires 6,050 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

IFM Investors Pty Ltd grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 9.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 67,019 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 6,050 shares during the quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd's holdings in Ross Stores were worth $8,564,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ROST. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Ross Stores by 25.7% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 19,515,891 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $2,952,170,000 after purchasing an additional 3,995,760 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,287,162 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $1,250,423,000 after acquiring an additional 135,117 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in Ross Stores by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,620,083 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $1,152,690,000 after purchasing an additional 807,850 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Ross Stores in the fourth quarter valued at about $649,318,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Ross Stores by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,805,427 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $575,647,000 after purchasing an additional 154,486 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.86% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on ROST shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Ross Stores from $128.00 to $126.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Ross Stores from $141.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Ross Stores from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Telsey Advisory Group restated a "market perform" rating and set a $150.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ross Stores currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $158.94.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of ROST stock traded down $0.11 during trading on Friday, hitting $131.42. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,343,840 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,796,219. The company has a market cap of $42.98 billion, a PE ratio of 20.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The business has a fifty day moving average of $138.90 and a 200-day moving average of $139.90. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52 week low of $122.36 and a 52 week high of $163.60.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The apparel retailer reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $4.98 billion during 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.46 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 10th were issued a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.23%. Ross Stores's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.59%.

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.