abrdn plc Sells 10,218 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

abrdn plc lowered its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 8.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 116,293 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 10,218 shares during the period. abrdn plc’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $17,543,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Czech National Bank grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 4,056 shares during the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. bought a new stake in shares of Ross Stores during the third quarter worth about $236,000. Mather Group LLC. increased its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 23.2% in the third quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 1,035 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $156,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the period. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC raised its holdings in Ross Stores by 28.5% in the 3rd quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 1,849 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $278,000 after buying an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Park Place Capital Corp boosted its position in Ross Stores by 35.2% during the 3rd quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 469 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $140.00 price target (down from $164.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $165.00 target price (down from $178.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Ross Stores from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Citigroup cut Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $179.00 to $152.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $169.06.

Ross Stores Stock Down 1.6 %

ROST stock opened at $145.02 on Friday. 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. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $151.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $147.97. The company has a market cap of $47.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.10.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 for the quarter was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.33 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th were given a dividend of $0.3675 per share. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 10th. 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.