Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC Reduces Position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC cut its position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 19.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 327,171 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after selling 77,063 shares during the quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC owned about 0.10% of Ross Stores worth $49,491,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hahn Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Ross Stores by 40.9% in the fourth quarter. Hahn Capital Management LLC now owns 74,059 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $11,203,000 after buying an additional 21,500 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,620,083 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $1,152,690,000 after purchasing an additional 807,850 shares during the period. Sovran Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ross Stores in the fourth quarter worth about $269,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 22.6% in the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 2,847 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $431,000 after purchasing an additional 524 shares during the period. Finally, Oak Ridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 115,849 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $17,524,000 after buying an additional 11,060 shares in the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on ROST. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $168.00 to $156.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Ross Stores from $130.00 to $128.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com lowered Ross Stores from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $166.00 to $161.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $160.73.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 7,492 shares of the business's 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 139,091 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,760,529.79. The trade was a 5.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 11,261 shares of the 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 transaction, the chairman now owns 59,790 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,868,364. This trade represents a 15.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 34,398 shares of company stock worth $4,439,950 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

Ross Stores Price Performance

NASDAQ:ROST traded down $1.09 on Friday, reaching $142.28. 1,727,917 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,655,966. The firm has a market cap of $46.78 billion, a PE ratio of 22.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $134.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $142.33. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12 month low of $122.36 and a 12 month high of $163.60.

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

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. This is an increase from Ross Stores's previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. Ross Stores's dividend payout ratio is 25.63%.

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.