Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) Shares Sold by Formidable Asset Management LLC

Formidable Asset Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 6.9% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,489 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 558 shares during the quarter. Formidable Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $957,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ROST. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 25.7% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 19,515,891 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $2,952,170,000 after purchasing an additional 3,995,760 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,287,162 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,250,423,000 after purchasing an additional 135,117 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,620,083 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,152,690,000 after purchasing an additional 807,850 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the 4th quarter worth approximately $649,318,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,805,427 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $575,647,000 after purchasing an additional 154,486 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Shares of ROST opened at $129.94 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $136.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $138.57. Ross Stores, Inc. has a twelve month low of $122.36 and a twelve month high of $163.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.53, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.11.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The apparel retailer reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.03. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.79% and a return on equity of 38.77%. The firm had revenue of $4.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.94 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.46 EPS. Ross Stores’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th were paid a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.25%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.59%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ROST has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $141.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $157.00 to $156.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $128.00 to $126.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Citigroup raised shares of Ross Stores from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $146.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $158.94.

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.