Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Has $23.12 Million Holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 153,583 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after buying an additional 6,580 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $23,116,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Ross Stores by 68.8% in the second quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 2,391,856 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $347,585,000 after purchasing an additional 975,190 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in Ross Stores by 4,787.8% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 629,744 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $94,783,000 after buying an additional 616,860 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Ross Stores by 59.4% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,261,102 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $183,263,000 after buying an additional 469,717 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Ross Stores by 27.8% during the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,814,440 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $263,675,000 after buying an additional 394,774 shares during the period. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Ross Stores by 24.2% in the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,007,528 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $291,734,000 after acquiring an additional 390,518 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.64, for a total value of $1,302,084.24. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 103,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,038,546.36. The trade was a 7.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Ross Stores from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Ross Stores to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Citigroup lowered shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $179.00 to $152.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $175.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ross Stores currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $171.69.

Ross Stores Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of Ross Stores stock opened at $156.48 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $145.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $145.88. 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 firm has a market cap of $51.91 billion, a PE ratio of 24.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.10. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1 year low of $127.53 and a 1 year high of $163.60.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 41.83%. The business had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.33 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be paid a $0.3675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is presently 23.15%.

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.