Bank of New York Mellon Corp Sells 325,631 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp decreased its position in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 12.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,274,936 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after selling 325,631 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned about 0.69% of Ross Stores worth $290,714,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROST. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Ross Stores in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $649,318,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Ross Stores by 25.7% in 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 in the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC boosted its position in Ross Stores by 8,209.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ross Stores in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $230,204,000. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in Ross Stores by 69.6% in 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on ROST shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Ross Stores from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a "market perform" rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Ross Stores from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Loop Capital lowered their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their target price 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. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $158.94.

Ross Stores Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:ROST traded down $0.78 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $130.77. 2,504,574 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,795,052. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $138.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $139.84. The company has a market cap of $42.77 billion, a PE ratio of 20.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 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.

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

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 10th. Ross Stores's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.59%.

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.