Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) Shares Acquired by Toronto Dominion Bank

Toronto Dominion Bank raised its position in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 5.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 187,419 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after buying an additional 9,797 shares during the quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank owned about 0.06% of Ross Stores worth $28,351,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Steadfast Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 30.4% during the fourth quarter. Steadfast Capital Management LP now owns 1,633,862 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $247,154,000 after buying an additional 380,805 shares during the last quarter. Shellback Capital LP lifted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. Shellback Capital LP now owns 100,000 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $15,127,000 after buying an additional 35,000 shares during the last quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 21,755 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $3,291,000 after buying an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position 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. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 119,705 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $18,108,000 after buying an additional 13,421 shares during the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on ROST shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. StockNews.com lowered Ross Stores from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $190.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Ross Stores from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $146.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $166.00 to $161.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $161.53.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 7,492 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.69, for a total value of $956,653.48. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 139,091 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,760,529.79. The trade was a 5.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 11,261 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.60, for a total transaction of $1,481,947.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 59,790 shares in the company, valued at $7,868,364. The trade was a 15.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 34,398 shares of company stock valued at $4,439,950. 2.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ross Stores Stock Down 1.0%

NASDAQ:ROST traded down $1.56 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $152.68. The stock had a trading volume of 2,878,417 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,646,875. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $137.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $142.90. The company has a market capitalization of $50.20 billion, a PE ratio of 24.04, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.17. Ross Stores, Inc. has a twelve month low of $122.36 and a twelve month high of $163.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 4th. The apparel retailer reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.14. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 41.83%. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.95 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.06%. Ross Stores's payout ratio is currently 25.63%.

Ross Stores Company 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.