Stephens Investment Management Group LLC Acquires 42,429 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Stephens Investment Management Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 29.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 185,882 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 42,429 shares during the quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC owned 0.06% of Ross Stores worth $23,754,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of ROST. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 274.3% during the 4th quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 20,466 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $3,096,000 after acquiring an additional 14,998 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,620,083 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $1,152,690,000 after buying an additional 807,850 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores during the fourth quarter worth $17,221,000. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 42.0% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,276,799 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $193,141,000 after buying an additional 377,554 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sowell Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the first quarter worth $328,000. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ross Stores Price Performance

ROST opened at $131.17 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $42.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.72, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $138.04 and a 200 day moving average of $139.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.55. Ross Stores, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $122.36 and a fifty-two 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. On average, research analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th were given a dividend of $0.405 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 25.59%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on ROST shares. Barclays decreased their target price on Ross Stores from $157.00 to $156.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Ross Stores from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Wall Street Zen cut Ross Stores from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding ROST? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.