ST Germain D J Co. Inc. Sells 2,107 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lowered its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 28.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,429 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 2,107 shares during the quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc.’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $821,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp increased its stake in Ross Stores by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,137,281 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $2,127,802,000 after purchasing an additional 67,861 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Ross Stores by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,152,045 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,222,915,000 after purchasing an additional 34,475 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in Ross Stores by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,812,233 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,025,309,000 after purchasing an additional 316,652 shares in the last quarter. Marshfield Associates increased its stake in Ross Stores by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Marshfield Associates now owns 3,908,958 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $588,337,000 after purchasing an additional 14,193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Ross Stores by 64.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,862,684 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $581,373,000 after purchasing an additional 1,507,922 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Friday. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $175.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Monday, November 18th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $179.00 to $152.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $171.29.

Ross Stores Price Performance

NASDAQ ROST opened at $151.74 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $50.06 billion, a PE ratio of 23.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.10. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52 week low of $127.53 and a 52 week high of $163.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $149.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $147.68.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.07. The business 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 9.95% and a return on equity of 41.83%. The company’s revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.33 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th were issued a dividend of $0.3675 per share. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 10th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.15%.

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.