Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Sells 156,094 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA cut its holdings in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,207,203 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 156,094 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $488,746,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC raised its position in Ross Stores by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 2,303 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $351,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC boosted its position in Ross Stores by 0.6% during the second quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 12,032 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,535,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Klingman & Associates LLC boosted its position in Ross Stores by 1.5% during the third quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 5,421 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $826,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 3.2% during the second quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,868 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $366,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daymark Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 5.5% in the second quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,876 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $239,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Shares of Ross Stores stock opened at $192.36 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $178.47 and a 200 day moving average of $158.16. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52 week low of $122.36 and a 52 week high of $194.92. The company has a market cap of $62.22 billion, a PE ratio of 30.06, a P/E/G ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The apparel retailer reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $5.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.38 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 36.75%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.48 earnings per share. Ross Stores has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.380-6.46 EPS and its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.770-1.85 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 9th were paid a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 9th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on ROST shares. Erste Group Bank started coverage on Ross Stores in a report on Friday, October 31st. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Wall Street Zen raised Ross Stores from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 15th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $205.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $171.00 to $188.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 21st. Finally, BTIG Research began coverage on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $186.41.

Ross Stores Profile

Ross Stores, Inc (NASDAQ: ROST) is an American off?price retailer headquartered in Dublin, California, that operates the Ross Dress for Less and dd’s DISCOUNTS store formats. The company sells a broad assortment of apparel, footwear, home fashions, accessories and other soft goods, positioning itself as a value-oriented destination for brand?name and fashion merchandise at reduced prices.

Ross’s business model centers on opportunistic buying of excess inventory, closeouts, cancelled orders and overstocks from manufacturers, department stores and other suppliers.