Steph & Co. Sells 73 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Steph & Co. trimmed its position in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 6.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,056 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 73 shares during the period. Steph & Co.’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $160,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Ross Stores by 9.6% in the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,072 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $592,000 after purchasing an additional 355 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its holdings in Ross Stores by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 9,162 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,331,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in Ross Stores in the 2nd quarter worth $415,000. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the 2nd quarter valued at about $747,000. Finally, Axxcess Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the second quarter valued at about $474,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ROST has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Friday, January 10th. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $185.00 to $177.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective (down from $178.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.29.

Ross Stores Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ ROST opened at $149.01 on Thursday. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12 month low of $127.53 and a 12 month high of $163.60. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $149.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $147.73. The stock has a market cap of $49.16 billion, a PE ratio of 23.47, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.33 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th were issued a $0.3675 dividend. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 10th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is 23.15%.

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.