Boston Trust Walden Corp Trims Stock Holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Boston Trust Walden Corp decreased its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 845,823 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after selling 9,314 shares during the quarter. Ross Stores makes up 0.9% of Boston Trust Walden Corp's portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Boston Trust Walden Corp owned 0.25% of Ross Stores worth $117,053,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Ross Stores by 0.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,510,301 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $2,488,582,000 after buying an additional 137,952 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Ross Stores by 1.7% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,361,375 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $779,543,000 after purchasing an additional 125,519 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Ross Stores by 21.0% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,036,224 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $640,624,000 after purchasing an additional 1,048,817 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Ross Stores by 14.1% during the second quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 5,355,761 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $600,541,000 after purchasing an additional 662,825 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of Ross Stores by 84.6% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,742,218 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $550,429,000 after purchasing an additional 2,173,922 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.86% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on ROST shares. Barclays increased their target price on Ross Stores from $160.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Citigroup raised their price target on Ross Stores from $147.00 to $172.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price target on Ross Stores from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Ross Stores from $135.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Ross Stores from $155.00 to $161.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $155.21.

Ross Stores Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ROST traded down $1.81 on Thursday, reaching $139.71. The company had a trading volume of 1,799,428 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,961,418. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52-week low of $99.00 and a 52-week high of $151.12. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $145.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $132.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.04 billion, a PE ratio of 25.13, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 5th. The apparel retailer reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.63 by $0.19. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.15% and a net margin of 9.20%. The business had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.81 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.31 EPS. The business's revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.3675 per share. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.05%. This is an increase from Ross Stores's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Ross Stores's payout ratio is 26.44%.

Ross Stores declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, March 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.10 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the apparel retailer to buy up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 21,056 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.14, for a total transaction of $3,056,067.84. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 114,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,616,788.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Ross Stores news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 21,056 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.14, for a total transaction of $3,056,067.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 114,488 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,616,788.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Brian R. Morrow sold 10,734 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.00, for a total value of $1,567,164.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 62,711 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,155,806. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 71,097 shares of company stock worth $10,396,178 in the last ninety days. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Ross Stores

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 primarily to middle income households; and dd's DISCOUNTS stores sell its products at department and discount stores for households with moderate income.

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