Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) Shares Sold by Pacer Advisors Inc.

Pacer Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 5.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 43,997 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 2,355 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $6,655,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. acquired a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the second quarter valued at $27,000. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new position in Ross Stores during the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. ORG Partners LLC grew its position in Ross Stores by 434.1% in the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 235 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the third quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new stake in shares of Ross Stores during the third quarter valued at approximately $59,000. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on ROST. Citigroup cut Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $179.00 to $152.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective (down from $178.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $140.00 target price (down previously from $164.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $169.06.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of ROST opened at $150.15 on Thursday. Ross Stores, Inc. has a one year low of $127.53 and a one year high of $163.60. The company has a 50-day moving average of $151.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $147.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market cap of $49.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.65, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.10.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.15 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. Ross Stores’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.33 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th were issued a dividend of $0.3675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. Ross Stores’s dividend 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.