Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) Shares Purchased by Bayforest Capital Ltd

Bayforest Capital Ltd boosted its holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 372.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 241 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after buying an additional 190 shares during the period. Bayforest Capital Ltd’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $31,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 274.3% in the 4th quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 20,466 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $3,096,000 after purchasing an additional 14,998 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,620,083 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,152,690,000 after purchasing an additional 807,850 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 42.0% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,276,799 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $193,141,000 after purchasing an additional 377,554 shares in the last quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the 1st quarter valued at about $328,000. Finally, Aurdan Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the 4th quarter valued at about $8,516,000. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Ross Stores from $128.00 to $126.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Barclays reduced their price target on Ross Stores from $157.00 to $156.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised Ross Stores from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Ross Stores from $154.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $159.06.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of ROST opened at $137.01 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $134.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $137.36. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52-week low of $122.36 and a 52-week high of $163.60. The firm has a market cap of $44.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.64, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

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

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th were given a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 10th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.59%.

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.