Wealthfront Advisers LLC Invests $10.46 Million in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 49,159 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $10,463,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the second quarter valued at approximately $5,938,711,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Ross Stores in the 4th quarter valued at $868,360,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Ross Stores in the 2nd quarter valued at $385,441,000. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in Ross Stores by 1,908.8% in the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,816,763 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $276,857,000 after acquiring an additional 1,726,324 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 20.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 9,582,401 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,222,523,000 after purchasing an additional 1,657,008 shares during the period. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ROST shares. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Monday, April 27th. Zacks Research downgraded Ross Stores from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Citigroup raised their price target on Ross Stores from $261.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Ross Stores from $248.00 to $251.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group upped their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $244.76.

Ross Stores Price Performance

ROST stock opened at $234.69 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $75.28 billion, a PE ratio of 32.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $234.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $221.46. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12-month low of $143.39 and a 12-month high of $257.00.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 21st. The apparel retailer reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $6.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.64 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 38.42% and a net margin of 9.74%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.47 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 7.78 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be given a dividend of $0.445 per share. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is 24.86%.

Ross Stores Company Profile

Ross Stores, Inc (NASDAQ: ROST) is an American off?price retailer headquartered in Dublin, California, that operates the Ross Dress for Less and dd’s DISCOUNTS store formats. The company sells a broad assortment of apparel, footwear, home fashions, accessories and other soft goods, positioning itself as a value-oriented destination for brand?name and fashion merchandise at reduced prices.

Ross’s business model centers on opportunistic buying of excess inventory, closeouts, cancelled orders and overstocks from manufacturers, department stores and other suppliers.