Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Lowers Position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC reduced its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 635,780 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 19,001 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $95,691,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Ross Stores by 64.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,862,684 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $581,373,000 after acquiring an additional 1,507,922 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Ross Stores by 68.8% in the 2nd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 2,391,856 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $347,585,000 after purchasing an additional 975,190 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its holdings in Ross Stores by 4,787.8% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 629,744 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $94,783,000 after purchasing an additional 616,860 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Ross Stores by 59.4% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,261,102 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $183,263,000 after purchasing an additional 469,717 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Ross Stores by 27.8% during the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,814,440 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $263,675,000 after purchasing an additional 394,774 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ross Stores

In related news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 103,049 shares in the company, valued at $16,038,546.36. This represents a 7.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Stock Performance

Shares of ROST opened at $153.53 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $127.53 and a 52-week high of $163.60. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $146.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $146.70. The company has a market capitalization of $50.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.10.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be issued a $0.3675 dividend. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 10th. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is currently 23.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ROST has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Ross Stores from $163.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $147.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Ross Stores to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.69.

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.