Private Trust Co. NA reduced its stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST – Free Report) by 37.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 430 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 260 shares during the quarter. Private Trust Co. NA’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $65,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 67,861 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in 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 during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased 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 during the last quarter. Marshfield Associates increased its stake in Ross Stores by 0.4% during the third quarter. Marshfield Associates now owns 3,908,958 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $588,337,000 after acquiring an additional 14,193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Ross Stores by 64.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,862,684 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $581,373,000 after acquiring an additional 1,507,922 shares during the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ross Stores Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ ROST opened at $138.64 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $146.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $147.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.83, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.10. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52-week low of $127.53 and a 52-week high of $163.60.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The apparel retailer reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.95 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. Sell-side analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.17%. This is a positive change from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.15%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on ROST shares. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Ross Stores from $168.00 to $156.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com lowered Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Telsey Advisory Group dropped their target price on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Ross Stores from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Eight investment 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. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $162.12.

Read Our Latest Analysis on ROST

About Ross Stores

(Free Report)

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.

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