Swiss National Bank Has $141.77 Million Stock Holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Swiss National Bank lowered its holdings in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 5.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 937,200 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 52,900 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.28% of Ross Stores worth $141,770,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ROST. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,137,281 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $2,127,802,000 after buying an additional 67,861 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,152,045 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,222,915,000 after acquiring an additional 34,475 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Ross Stores by 4.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,812,233 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,025,309,000 after acquiring an additional 316,652 shares in the last quarter. Marshfield Associates grew its holdings in Ross Stores by 0.4% in the third quarter. Marshfield Associates now owns 3,908,958 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $588,337,000 after purchasing an additional 14,193 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Ross Stores by 64.0% in the third 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 in the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Telsey Advisory Group decreased their price objective on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com cut Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $185.00 to $177.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $161.40.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Ross Stores stock opened at $123.30 on Friday. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52 week low of $123.01 and a 52 week high of $163.60. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $143.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $146.81. The stock has a market cap of $40.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.15. 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 data on Tuesday, March 4th. The apparel retailer reported $1.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.14. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. The firm had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.95 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a $0.405 dividend. This is a boost from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is currently 25.63%.

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.