Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) Shares Sold by Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC

Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC lessened its position in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 71.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 193,156 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after selling 482,034 shares during the quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC owned about 0.06% of Ross Stores worth $29,219,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Ross Stores in the fourth quarter valued at $649,318,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew 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 worth $2,952,170,000 after buying an additional 3,995,760 shares during the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC grew 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 worth $360,204,000 after buying an additional 2,352,543 shares during the last quarter. Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ross Stores during the 4th quarter worth approximately $230,204,000. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in Ross Stores by 69.6% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,336,312 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $504,684,000 after acquiring an additional 1,368,571 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.86% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Friday. Barclays cut their target price on Ross Stores from $157.00 to $156.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $160.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group cut their price target on Ross Stores from $168.00 to $163.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Ross Stores from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ross Stores currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $158.67.

Ross Stores Trading Down 9.8%

Ross Stores stock traded down $14.99 during trading on Friday, reaching $137.26. The company had a trading volume of 18,532,945 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,705,616. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12-month low of $122.36 and a 12-month high of $163.60. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $138.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $142.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.62, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.57.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The apparel retailer reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $4.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.94 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 41.83%. Ross Stores's revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.46 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.18%. Ross Stores's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ross Stores news, CMO Karen Fleming sold 5,339 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.73, for a total transaction of $671,272.47. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 94,063 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,826,540.99. The trade was a 5.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 7,492 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.69, for a total transaction of $956,653.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 139,091 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,760,529.79. This represents a 5.11% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 34,398 shares of company stock worth $4,439,950 over the last three months. 2.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.