Thomasville National Bank Sells 296 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Thomasville National Bank trimmed its holdings in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 11.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,404 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 296 shares during the quarter. Thomasville National Bank’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $364,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ROST. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the second quarter valued at $27,000. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. bought a new stake in Ross Stores in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. ORG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Ross Stores by 434.1% during the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 235 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Ross Stores during the third quarter valued at about $53,000. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new position in Ross Stores during the third quarter worth about $59,000. 86.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Shares of Ross Stores stock opened at $151.16 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.87 billion, a PE ratio of 23.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 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. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12 month low of $127.53 and a 12 month high of $163.60. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $149.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $147.70.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.15 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.33 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th were paid a $0.3675 dividend. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 10th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.15%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and set a $175.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Citigroup downgraded Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $179.00 to $152.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Friday. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com cut Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Seven investment 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $171.29.

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.