Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) Shares Sold by JLB & Associates Inc.

JLB & Associates Inc. reduced its position in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 135,595 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 2,207 shares during the period. Ross Stores makes up about 2.8% of JLB & Associates Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. JLB & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $20,511,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sovran Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the 4th quarter worth approximately $269,000. Oak Ridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Ross Stores by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 115,849 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $17,524,000 after buying an additional 11,060 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Ross Stores by 137.7% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,976,140 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $299,583,000 after buying an additional 1,144,774 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its position in Ross Stores by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 71,933 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $10,881,000 after buying an additional 3,981 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 917.2% in the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 29,498 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $4,440,000 after buying an additional 26,598 shares in the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ROST shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Ross Stores from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $140.00 price target (down previously from $164.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup cut Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $179.00 to $152.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. StockNews.com raised shares of Ross Stores from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Friday, January 10th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $169.06.

Ross Stores Trading Down 0.5 %

NASDAQ ROST opened at $139.09 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1-year low of $127.53 and a 1-year high of $163.60. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $148.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $147.79. The company has a market capitalization of $45.89 billion, a PE ratio of 21.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.10.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.15 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. The business’s revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.33 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Ross Stores

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.