Diversify Advisory Services LLC Has $5.07 Million Stock Holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Diversify Advisory Services LLC lowered its position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 33,380 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 1,223 shares during the quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $5,065,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ROST has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $179.00 to $152.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $175.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $185.00 to $177.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $171.29.

Ross Stores Price Performance

ROST stock opened at $149.15 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $49.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.10. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52-week low of $127.53 and a 52-week high of $163.60. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $150.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $147.80. 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 (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $5.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.15 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. Ross Stores’s revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.33 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th were given a dividend of $0.3675 per share. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 10th. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is currently 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.