BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Trims Holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lowered its position in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 131,187 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 1,297 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A.’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $19,745,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ROST. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 262.1% in the second quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 210 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the third quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Ross Stores by 97.8% during the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 275 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Ross Stores

In other Ross Stores news, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 14,887 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.22, for a total transaction of $2,266,099.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 11,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,694,665.26. The trade was a 57.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $16,038,546.36. This represents a 7.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 72,138 shares of company stock worth $11,093,051. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on ROST shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Ross Stores from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $147.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $171.69.

Ross Stores Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of ROST opened at $146.09 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $48.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.09. Ross Stores, Inc. has a twelve month low of $127.53 and a twelve month high of $163.60. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $145.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $144.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.07. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 42.43% and a net margin of 9.82%. The business had revenue of $5.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.33 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.11 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be paid a $0.3675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.01%. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is 23.71%.

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.