Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST Shares Sold by Voya Investment Management LLC

Key Points

• Voya Investment Management LLC has reduced its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. by 17.7%, selling 50,030 shares and holding 232,268 shares valued at approximately $29.68 million.
• Concurrent to Voya's reduction, Vanguard Group Inc. and EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. increased their positions in Ross Stores by 17.0% and 59.3%, respectively.
• Ross Stores reported $1.56 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, but its revenue of $5.53 billion fell slightly short of estimates.

Voya Investment Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 17.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 232,268 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after selling 50,030 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC owned about 0.07% of Ross Stores worth $29,682,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Ross Stores by 50.7% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 217 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Banque Transatlantique SA acquired a new position in Ross Stores during the first quarter worth about $29,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd raised its position in Ross Stores by 372.5% during the first quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 241 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC raised its position in Ross Stores by 36.6% during the first quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 280 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ROST. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $144.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $156.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a "market perform" rating and issued a $160.00 price objective (up previously from $150.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Ross Stores from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Ross Stores from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $160.67.

Ross Stores Trading Down 0.6%

Ross Stores stock traded down $0.85 during trading on Monday, reaching $147.05. The company had a trading volume of 1,946,239 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,082,679. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12-month low of $122.36 and a 12-month high of $158.69. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $142.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $138.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.34, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.58.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.02. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.60% and a return on equity of 37.37%. The firm had revenue of $5.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.59 earnings per share. Ross Stores's revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th will be given a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 9th. Ross Stores's payout ratio is presently 25.71%.

Insider Activity at Ross Stores

In other news, CMO Karen Sykes sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.76, for a total transaction of $607,040.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 106,413 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,149,236.88. The trade was a 3.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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.