BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Has $19.75 Million Stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. reduced its position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 131,187 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 1,297 shares during the quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A.’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $19,745,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PGGM Investments lifted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 724.1% during the 2nd quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 24,848 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $3,611,000 after buying an additional 21,833 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 140.2% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 464,062 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $68,106,000 after acquiring an additional 270,844 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 47.5% in the second quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 13,124 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,907,000 after acquiring an additional 4,228 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in Ross Stores by 42.1% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 63,105 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $9,260,000 after buying an additional 18,685 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in Ross Stores by 10.3% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,737,042 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $397,747,000 after acquiring an additional 254,720 shares during the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Ross Stores

In other Ross Stores news, CEO Barbara Rentler sold 48,885 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.93, for a total transaction of $7,524,868.05. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 311,853 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,003,532.29. This represents a 13.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.64, for a total transaction of $1,302,084.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 103,049 shares in the company, valued at $16,038,546.36. The trade was a 7.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 72,138 shares of company stock worth $11,093,051 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of ROST opened at $146.09 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $48.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.09. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $145.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $144.53. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12 month low of $127.53 and a 12 month high of $163.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.15 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.82% and a return on equity of 42.43%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.33 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be given a dividend of $0.3675 per share. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 10th. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is currently 23.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on ROST shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Ross Stores from $163.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Friday. Citigroup downgraded Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $179.00 to $152.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $147.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $162.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $171.69.

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.