Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 251 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 7.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,098 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 251 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $469,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the second quarter worth about $27,000. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. ORG Partners LLC raised its position in Ross Stores by 434.1% in the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 235 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Ross Stores during the 3rd quarter worth $53,000. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new position in Ross Stores in the 3rd quarter valued at $59,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ROST opened at $149.00 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $49.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.46, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.10. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12 month low of $127.53 and a 12 month high of $163.60. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $150.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $147.74. 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 released 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 firm had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.15 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.33 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th were given a dividend of $0.3675 per share. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 10th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.15%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ROST. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Citigroup cut shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $179.00 to $152.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $171.29.

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.