Voya Investment Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Voya Investment Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST - Free Report) by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 282,298 shares of the apparel retailer's stock after selling 14,031 shares during the quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.09% of Ross Stores worth $42,703,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Syon Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $230,000. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Ross Stores by 131.8% in the fourth quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 16,875 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $2,553,000 after purchasing an additional 9,595 shares during the period. CSM Advisors LLC grew its stake in Ross Stores by 31.5% in the fourth quarter. CSM Advisors LLC now owns 2,005 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $304,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Ross Stores by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 111,094 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $16,805,000 after purchasing an additional 10,037 shares during the period. Finally, Pinebridge Investments L.P. grew its stake in Ross Stores by 44.0% in the fourth quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. now owns 60,712 shares of the apparel retailer's stock worth $9,184,000 after purchasing an additional 18,546 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.86% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ROST. Wells Fargo & Company raised Ross Stores from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $140.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Ross Stores from $168.00 to $156.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Ross Stores from $166.00 to $161.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Telsey Advisory Group cut their target price on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Ross Stores from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Five investment 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $160.87.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ROST traded down $0.22 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $138.78. 896,147 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,658,518. The company's 50 day moving average price is $133.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $142.61. The firm has a market cap of $45.64 billion, a PE ratio of 21.84, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.11. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52 week low of $122.36 and a 52 week high of $163.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.95 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 41.83%. On average, equities analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were given a $0.405 dividend. This is a positive change from Ross Stores's previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. Ross Stores's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CMO Karen Fleming sold 5,339 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.73, for a total transaction of $671,272.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 94,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,826,540.99. This represents a 5.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 11,261 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chairman now owns 59,790 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,868,364. This represents a 15.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 34,398 shares of company stock worth $4,439,950. 2.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.