OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC Lowers Holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,963 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 2,061 shares during the quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $3,155,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROST. PGGM Investments lifted its stake in Ross Stores by 724.1% in the 2nd quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 24,848 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $3,611,000 after purchasing an additional 21,833 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 140.2% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 464,062 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $68,106,000 after purchasing an additional 270,844 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co lifted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 47.5% in the second quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 13,124 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,907,000 after buying an additional 4,228 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Ross Stores by 19.3% during the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 30,919 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $4,538,000 after buying an additional 4,992 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in Ross Stores by 42.1% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 63,105 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $9,260,000 after buying an additional 18,685 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ROST has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays upped their price objective on Ross Stores from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $163.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Ross Stores to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Loop Capital lifted their price target on Ross Stores from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.00.

Insider Activity

In other Ross Stores news, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 14,887 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.22, for a total transaction of $2,266,099.14. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 11,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,694,665.26. This trade represents a 57.21 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.64, for a total transaction of $1,302,084.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 103,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,038,546.36. The trade was a 7.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 72,138 shares of company stock valued at $11,093,051. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Price Performance

ROST opened at $140.69 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $146.18 and a 200 day moving average of $144.11. The stock has a market cap of $46.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.69, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52-week low of $119.73 and a 52-week high of $163.60.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The apparel retailer reported $1.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $5.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.25 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.82% and a return on equity of 42.43%. The business’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.32 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.12 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 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 1.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 10th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.71%.

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.