Toronto Dominion Bank Has $28.35 Million Stock Holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 5.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 187,419 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after buying an additional 9,797 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank owned approximately 0.06% of Ross Stores worth $28,351,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ROST. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Ross Stores by 25.7% during the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 3,995,760 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Ross Stores by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,287,162 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $1,250,423,000 after purchasing an additional 135,117 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Ross Stores by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,620,083 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $1,152,690,000 after purchasing an additional 807,850 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Ross Stores during the fourth quarter worth about $649,318,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Ross Stores by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,805,427 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $575,647,000 after buying an additional 154,486 shares during the period. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ROST. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $168.00 to $156.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Telsey Advisory Group restated a "market perform" rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Citigroup upgraded Ross Stores from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $146.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. UBS Group decreased their target price 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, Barclays dropped their price target 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. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ross Stores has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $158.67.

Ross Stores Stock Up 0.8%

NASDAQ ROST traded up $1.16 during trading on Friday, hitting $140.09. The stock had a trading volume of 4,209,674 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,714,233. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12 month low of $122.36 and a 12 month high of $163.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.57. The company's 50-day moving average price is $139.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $142.88. The company has a market capitalization of $46.06 billion, a PE ratio of 22.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.17.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 9.95% and a return on equity of 41.83%. The firm's revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.46 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be issued a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 10th. Ross Stores's payout ratio is 25.59%.

Insider Activity

In other Ross Stores news, CMO Karen Sykes sold 5,036 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.48, for a total transaction of $657,097.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 110,365 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,400,425.20. This trade represents a 4.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 11,261 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.60, for a total transaction of $1,481,947.60. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 59,790 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,868,364. The trade was a 15.85% 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 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

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.