Wellington Management Group LLP Grows Position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 64.0% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 3,862,684 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after buying an additional 1,507,922 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $581,373,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROST. Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 40.8% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 7,074 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,038,000 after purchasing an additional 2,050 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in Ross Stores by 33.5% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 13,099 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,904,000 after buying an additional 3,285 shares during the last quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 6,125 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $890,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Mechanics Bank Trust Department increased its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Mechanics Bank Trust Department now owns 34,343 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $4,991,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank raised its position in shares of Ross Stores by 7.9% during the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 63,896 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $9,285,000 after acquiring an additional 4,660 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on ROST shares. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $162.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Gordon Haskett raised Ross Stores to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $171.69.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.64, for a total value of $1,302,084.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 103,049 shares in the company, valued at $16,038,546.36. This trade represents a 7.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ROST opened at $156.48 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The firm has a market cap of $51.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.10. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $145.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $145.88. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1-year low of $127.53 and a 1-year high of $163.60.

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, beating 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 business had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.33 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.3675 per share. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 10th. 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.