Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Purchases 12,452 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 12.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 114,734 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,452 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $17,356,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 0.5% in 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 0.4% in 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 acquiring an additional 34,475 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Ross Stores by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,812,233 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,025,309,000 after acquiring an additional 316,652 shares during the period. Marshfield Associates grew its holdings in Ross Stores by 0.4% during the third 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 during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Ross Stores by 64.0% in the third 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. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on ROST shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Citigroup cut Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $179.00 to $152.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $169.06.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of ROST opened at $147.44 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 market cap of $48.64 billion, a PE ratio of 23.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $151.63 and a 200-day moving average of $147.97. 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.07. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. The company had revenue of $5.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.33 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 announced 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. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 10th. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is 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.