Boston Trust Walden Corp Sells 6,360 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Boston Trust Walden Corp lessened its stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 672,326 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 6,360 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $101,703,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ROST. Oak Ridge Investments LLC boosted its position in Ross Stores by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 115,849 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $17,524,000 after buying an additional 11,060 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 137.7% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,976,140 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $299,583,000 after purchasing an additional 1,144,774 shares during the period. Czech National Bank grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 71,933 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $10,881,000 after purchasing an additional 3,981 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC raised its position in Ross Stores by 917.2% during the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 29,498 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $4,440,000 after purchasing an additional 26,598 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in Ross Stores by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 44,822 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $6,780,000 after buying an additional 4,334 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Stock Down 1.5 %

ROST stock opened at $150.56 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $49.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.71, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.10. Ross Stores, Inc. has a twelve month low of $127.53 and a twelve month high of $163.60. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $151.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $147.93. 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.07. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. The firm had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.33 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th were given a $0.3675 dividend. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 10th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.15%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ROST has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Ross Stores from $185.00 to $177.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $175.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Monday, November 18th. StockNews.com lowered Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $140.00 target price (down from $164.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Citigroup cut Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $179.00 to $152.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $169.06.

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.