V Square Quantitative Management LLC Buys 710 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 21.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,043 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 710 shares during the quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $612,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. ORG Partners LLC raised its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Ross Stores in the third quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Oakworth Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in Ross Stores in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise purchased a new stake in Ross Stores in the third quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Finally, AM Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Ross Stores in the third quarter valued at approximately $60,000. 86.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on ROST shares. 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. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $140.00 target price (down from $164.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup cut shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $179.00 to $152.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. StockNews.com cut shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $169.06.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of ROST stock opened at $138.76 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $149.53 and a 200 day moving average of $147.88. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52 week low of $127.53 and a 52 week high of $163.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.85, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.10. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. The company had revenue of $5.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.15 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.33 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th were paid a $0.3675 dividend. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 10th. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is 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.