Sax Wealth Advisors LLC Buys 406 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Sax Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 25.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,983 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 406 shares during the quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $300,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ROST. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Ross Stores by 137.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,976,140 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $299,583,000 after acquiring an additional 1,144,774 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank lifted its stake in Ross Stores by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 71,933 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $10,881,000 after purchasing an additional 3,981 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 917.2% in the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 29,498 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $4,440,000 after purchasing an additional 26,598 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its position in shares of Ross Stores by 251.7% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 260,126 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $39,152,000 after purchasing an additional 186,161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 48.8% during the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 49,523 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $7,454,000 after buying an additional 16,248 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and set a $175.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Ross Stores from $185.00 to $177.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $171.29.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of ROST stock opened at $149.15 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.49, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $150.33 and a 200 day moving average of $147.77. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52 week low of $127.53 and a 52 week high of $163.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued 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. The business had revenue of $5.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.15 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 41.83%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.33 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th were issued a dividend of $0.3675 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.99%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.