NovaPoint Capital LLC Purchases 691 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

NovaPoint Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,596 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 691 shares during the period. Ross Stores comprises 1.2% of NovaPoint Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. NovaPoint Capital LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $4,023,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ROST. Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 67,952 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $10,227,000 after buying an additional 4,056 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 35.8% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,695 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $556,000 after buying an additional 974 shares in the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. bought a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $236,000. Mather Group LLC. boosted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 23.2% during the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 1,035 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $156,000 after buying an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Callan Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 24.9% during the 3rd quarter. Callan Family Office LLC now owns 2,145 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $323,000 after buying an additional 428 shares in the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen cut their target price on Ross Stores from $185.00 to $177.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $175.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Monday, November 18th. StockNews.com cut Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently 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. 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 company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $151.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $147.97. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12-month low of $127.53 and a 12-month high of $163.60.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.07. The firm 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.33 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th were given a $0.3675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.00%. 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.