Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) Stock Holdings Lowered by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB trimmed its holdings in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 167,221 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 2,668 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB owned about 0.05% of Ross Stores worth $25,296,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROST. Ieq Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 106.2% during the 4th quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 46,990 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $7,108,000 after acquiring an additional 24,201 shares in the last quarter. Joel Adams & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ross Stores during the fourth quarter valued at $303,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 18.3% in the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 233,571 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $35,332,000 after purchasing an additional 36,200 shares during the period. Key Financial Inc boosted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 13.2% in the 4th quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 662 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $100,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Ross Stores in the 4th quarter worth about $51,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ROST has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup lowered shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $179.00 to $152.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $185.00 to $177.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective (down from $178.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Friday, January 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $169.06.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Shares of ROST opened at $139.09 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.57. The firm has a market cap of $45.89 billion, a PE ratio of 21.90, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.10. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $148.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $147.79. Ross Stores, Inc. has a twelve month low of $127.53 and a twelve month high of $163.60.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.15 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 41.83%. Ross Stores’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.33 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.