Alpha Cubed Investments LLC Has $751,000 Stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Alpha Cubed Investments LLC lessened its position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 4.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,967 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 235 shares during the quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $751,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the second quarter worth $415,000. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Ross Stores by 167.7% during the second quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 9,272 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,347,000 after buying an additional 5,808 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Ross Stores by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 60,718 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $8,824,000 after buying an additional 4,063 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 8.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 330,543 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $48,036,000 after acquiring an additional 25,376 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 196.4% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 160,831 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $23,372,000 after acquiring an additional 106,571 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup cut shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $179.00 to $152.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. StockNews.com cut shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and set a $175.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective (down previously from $178.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $171.29.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Shares of ROST opened at $149.15 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $150.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $147.86. 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. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.21 billion, a PE ratio of 23.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.10.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.07. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 41.83%. The business 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 firm posted $1.33 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict 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 was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th were given a dividend of $0.3675 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.99%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.