Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Cuts Stock Position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC decreased its holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 167,626 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 1,108 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $25,556,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Oak Ridge Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 115,849 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $17,524,000 after acquiring an additional 11,060 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Ross Stores by 137.7% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its stake in Ross Stores by 5.9% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in Ross Stores by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 44,822 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $6,780,000 after purchasing an additional 4,334 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 917.2% in the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 29,498 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $4,440,000 after buying an additional 26,598 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ROST. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective (down from $178.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $175.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Ross Stores from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $169.06.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of Ross Stores stock opened at $138.76 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $149.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $147.88. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12 month low of $127.53 and a 12 month high of $163.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.85, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.33 earnings per share. Ross Stores’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th were given a dividend of $0.3675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.06%. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is 23.15%.

About Ross Stores

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.