Raymond James Financial Inc. Acquires Shares of 1,145,828 Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,145,828 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $173,329,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.35% of Ross Stores at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ROST. Stephens Inc. AR lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 5.2% in the third quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 2,328 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $350,000 after buying an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 53.7% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,560 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $385,000 after buying an additional 894 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 2.3% in the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 40,488 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $6,094,000 after buying an additional 908 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 2.9% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 46,853 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $6,805,000 after buying an additional 1,301 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Graypoint LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 4.7% in the third quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 3,982 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $599,000 after buying an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ROST has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $190.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $168.00 to $156.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Telsey Advisory Group dropped their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $165.00 to $140.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $185.00 to $177.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $163.07.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

NASDAQ ROST opened at $135.96 on Friday. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52-week low of $127.53 and a 52-week high of $163.60. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $145.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $147.49. 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 company has a market capitalization of $44.86 billion, a PE ratio of 21.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.15.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The apparel retailer reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.95 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 41.83%. On average, research analysts predict that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a $0.405 dividend. This is an increase from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.63%.

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.