First Financial Bank Trust Division Lowers Holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

First Financial Bank Trust Division trimmed its position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 6.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 40,590 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 2,770 shares during the quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $5,178,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 17.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,121,706 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $4,360,413,000 after buying an additional 4,946,101 shares during the period. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 59.3% in the 1st quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 4,055,088 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $518,200,000 after buying an additional 1,509,815 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,997,575 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $510,850,000 after buying an additional 192,148 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 69.6% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,336,312 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $504,684,000 after buying an additional 1,368,571 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,912,392 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $372,134,000 after buying an additional 15,085 shares during the period. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ross Stores Trading Down 2.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:ROST opened at $147.90 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $142.30 and its 200 day moving average is $138.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.15. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1 year low of $122.36 and a 1 year high of $158.69.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $5.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.54 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 37.37% and a net margin of 9.60%.The company’s revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.59 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th will be issued a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 9th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Ross Stores from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Ross Stores from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. UBS Group boosted their price target on Ross Stores from $144.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Ross Stores from $156.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $160.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ross Stores

In other news, CMO Karen Sykes sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.76, for a total value of $607,040.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 106,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,149,236.88. This represents a 3.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

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.