Great Lakes Advisors LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST – Free Report) by 17.9% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 12,279 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,861 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $1,303,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the fourth quarter valued at about $369,081,000. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 84.6% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,742,218 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $550,429,000 after buying an additional 2,173,922 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 45.4% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,987,407 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $578,889,000 after buying an additional 1,557,688 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 874.6% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,362,603 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $158,157,000 after buying an additional 1,222,789 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Voya Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 142.6% during the fourth quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 1,585,652 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $184,047,000 after buying an additional 932,144 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.89% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Barbara Rentler sold 11,866 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.54, for a total value of $1,216,739.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 325,367 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,363,132.18. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price objective on Ross Stores from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday. Guggenheim raised their target price on Ross Stores from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Piper Sandler began coverage on Ross Stores in a research note on Thursday, June 29th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $112.00 target price on the stock. 888 reissued a “downgrade” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Monday, June 26th. Finally, SpectralCast reissued a “downgrade” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Monday, June 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $127.00.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on ROST

Ross Stores Price Performance

ROST stock opened at $118.72 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $111.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $108.20. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52-week low of $81.21 and a 52-week high of $122.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.15, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.83.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 17th. The apparel retailer reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.16. Ross Stores had a net margin of 8.36% and a return on equity of 37.36%. The firm had revenue of $4.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.75 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.11 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 5.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.335 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 1st. This represents a $1.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.13%. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is 28.39%.

Ross Stores Company Profile

(Free Report)

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 primarily to middle income households; and dd’s DISCOUNTS stores sell its products at department and discount stores for households with moderate income.