Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) Shares Sold by Griffin Asset Management Inc.

Griffin Asset Management Inc. reduced its holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 12.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,375 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 1,236 shares during the quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $1,267,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Ross Stores by 0.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,137,281 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $2,127,802,000 after purchasing an additional 67,861 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 0.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,152,045 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,222,915,000 after acquiring an additional 34,475 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,812,233 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,025,309,000 after buying an additional 316,652 shares during the last quarter. Marshfield Associates lifted its stake in Ross Stores by 0.4% in the third quarter. Marshfield Associates now owns 3,908,958 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $588,337,000 after acquiring an additional 14,193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $581,373,000 after purchasing an additional 1,507,922 shares during the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $165.00 target price (down from $178.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com cut Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $140.00 price objective (down from $164.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $169.06.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ROST opened at $146.01 on Tuesday. Ross Stores, Inc. has a one year low of $127.53 and a one year 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. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $151.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $147.93. The firm has a market cap of $48.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 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, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.33 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 10th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.15%.

Ross Stores Company 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.