1,624 Shares in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) Purchased by Arvest Bank Trust Division

Arvest Bank Trust Division bought a new position in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 1,624 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $244,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Ross Stores by 64.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,862,684 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $581,373,000 after buying an additional 1,507,922 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 68.8% during the 2nd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 2,391,856 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $347,585,000 after acquiring an additional 975,190 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 4,787.8% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 629,744 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $94,783,000 after purchasing an additional 616,860 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 59.4% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,261,102 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $183,263,000 after acquiring an additional 469,717 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 27.8% during the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,814,440 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $263,675,000 after buying an additional 394,774 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.64, for a total value of $1,302,084.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 103,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,038,546.36. This represents a 7.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on ROST. Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Ross Stores to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Ross Stores from $185.00 to $177.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $175.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Loop Capital increased their price objective on Ross Stores from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Ross Stores from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $171.69.

Ross Stores Trading Up 0.0 %

NASDAQ ROST opened at $153.88 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $146.21 and its 200 day moving average is $146.62. The company has a market cap of $51.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.10. Ross Stores, Inc. has a twelve month low of $127.53 and a twelve month high of $163.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.07. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. The firm had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.33 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be issued a $0.3675 dividend. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 10th. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is 23.15%.

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.