By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST – Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 125,142 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $18,930,000.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 73.6% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 474 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Crew Capital Management Ltd. increased its position in Ross Stores by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Crew Capital Management Ltd. now owns 10,039 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,519,000 after buying an additional 697 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Ross Stores by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,582,472 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $541,921,000 after buying an additional 142,200 shares during the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH increased its position in Ross Stores by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 5,026 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $760,000 after buying an additional 460 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI increased its position in Ross Stores by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 2,320 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $352,000 after buying an additional 362 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company’s stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several equities analysts have commented on ROST shares. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $168.00 to $163.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Ross Stores from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. TD Cowen lowered 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. Finally, Loop Capital lowered their price target on Ross Stores from $190.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $161.40.
View Our Latest Stock Report on Ross Stores
Ross Stores Stock Up 0.7 %
ROST stock opened at $124.21 on Friday. Ross Stores, Inc. has a twelve month low of $122.77 and a twelve month high of $163.60. The company has a market cap of $40.98 billion, a PE ratio of 19.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.15. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $142.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $146.60. 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 – Get Free Report) last announced 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 firm had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.95 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 41.83%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current year.
Ross Stores Increases Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. This is a boost from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.30%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.63%.
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.
Further Reading
Want to see what other hedge funds are holding ROST? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST – Free Report).
Receive News & Ratings for Ross Stores Daily – Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts’ ratings for Ross Stores and related companies with MarketBeat.com’s FREE daily email newsletter.