Occidental Asset Management LLC Acquires 321 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Occidental Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 13.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,729 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 321 shares during the quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $413,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ROST. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Ross Stores by 137.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,976,140 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $299,583,000 after purchasing an additional 1,144,774 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC boosted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 917.2% during the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 29,498 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $4,440,000 after purchasing an additional 26,598 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 71,933 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $10,881,000 after buying an additional 3,981 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its position in Ross Stores by 251.7% in the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 260,126 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $39,152,000 after buying an additional 186,161 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its stake in Ross Stores by 48.8% during the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 49,523 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $7,454,000 after buying an additional 16,248 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ROST opened at $149.00 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $49.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.10. The company’s 50-day moving average is $150.08 and its 200 day moving average is $147.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.57. Ross Stores, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $127.53 and a fifty-two week high of $163.60.

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

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th were paid a $0.3675 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is presently 23.15%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ROST has been the subject of a number of research reports. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Ross Stores from $185.00 to $177.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. 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, January 10th. Citigroup lowered shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $179.00 to $152.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $175.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $171.29.

Ross Stores 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.