MQS Management LLC Purchases Shares of 4,929 Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

MQS Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 4,929 shares of the apparel retailer's stock, valued at approximately $630,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ROST. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 29.6% in the 1st quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 185,882 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $23,754,000 after purchasing an additional 42,429 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 96,783 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $12,368,000 after purchasing an additional 1,871 shares during the last quarter. PYA Waltman Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. PYA Waltman Capital LLC now owns 130,264 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $16,646,000 after purchasing an additional 1,341 shares during the last quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 23.4% in the 1st quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC now owns 9,239 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $1,181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,753 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 65.5% in the 1st quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 136,052 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $17,386,000 after purchasing an additional 53,846 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on ROST shares. Citigroup raised shares of Ross Stores from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $146.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $128.00 to $126.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $141.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, June 13th. 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 MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $158.94.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ROST traded up $0.31 on Friday, hitting $131.17. 2,171,499 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,818,327. The company's 50 day moving average price is $138.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $139.27. Ross Stores, Inc. has a one year low of $122.36 and a one year high of $163.60. 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 capitalization of $42.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.72, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.11.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 22nd. The apparel retailer reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate 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 was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.46 EPS. Research analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

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

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.