Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) Shares Sold by Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC

Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC reduced its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 11.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 4,935 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 654 shares during the quarter. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $746,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in Ross Stores by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 59,913 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $9,017,000 after buying an additional 1,442 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Ross Stores by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 6,214 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $935,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its holdings in Ross Stores by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 36,378 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $5,475,000 after buying an additional 2,762 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ross Stores by 112.4% during the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 3,333 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $502,000 after buying an additional 1,764 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Claro Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Ross Stores by 118.9% during the 3rd quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 4,051 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $610,000 after buying an additional 2,200 shares in the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ross Stores Trading Down 1.2 %

NASDAQ ROST opened at $138.76 on Friday. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average price is $149.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $147.88. The company has a market capitalization of $45.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 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.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.15 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.33 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.06%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 10th. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is currently 23.15%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $185.00 to $177.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $175.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Monday, November 18th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective (down from $178.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $169.06.

Ross Stores 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.