Trust Co. of Vermont Has $98,000 Holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Trust Co. of Vermont lifted its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 4,200.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 645 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after buying an additional 630 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $98,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new stake in Ross Stores in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the third quarter valued at about $33,000. ORG Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 434.1% in the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 235 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 191 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Ross Stores during the third quarter worth about $53,000. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new position in Ross Stores during the third quarter valued at about $59,000. Institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Friday, January 10th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $179.00 to $152.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective (down previously from $178.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $185.00 to $177.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.29.

Ross Stores Stock Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ:ROST opened at $149.15 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $150.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $147.80. The company has a market cap of $49.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.10. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52-week low of $127.53 and a 52-week high of $163.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.57.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.15 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.33 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th were paid a $0.3675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.99%. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is presently 23.15%.

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