Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) Shares Purchased by Flossbach Von Storch SE

Flossbach Von Storch SE boosted its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 13.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 77,077 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 9,283 shares during the period. Flossbach Von Storch SE's holdings in Ross Stores were worth $9,850,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Ross Stores in the fourth quarter worth about $649,318,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 25.7% during the fourth 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 buying an additional 3,995,760 shares during the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 8,209.0% during the fourth quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 2,381,201 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $360,204,000 after buying an additional 2,352,543 shares during the last quarter. Madison Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ross Stores during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $230,204,000. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 69.6% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,336,312 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $504,684,000 after buying an additional 1,368,571 shares during the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ross Stores Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ ROST opened at $131.56 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $43.03 billion, a PE ratio of 20.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.11. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12-month low of $122.36 and a 12-month high of $163.60. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $138.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $139.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 business 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%. Ross Stores's revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on ROST. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $141.00 to $154.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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. Telsey Advisory Group restated a "market perform" rating and issued a $150.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a research report 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 report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Ross Stores from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Five equities 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Ross Stores currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $158.94.

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.

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