Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Reduces Position in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lessened its holdings in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 4.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,207,203 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 156,094 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 0.99% of Ross Stores worth $488,746,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ROST has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Erste Group Bank started coverage on Ross Stores in a report on Friday, October 31st. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Robert W. Baird set a $200.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $221.00 price objective on Ross Stores in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ross Stores presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $186.41.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ROST opened at $192.36 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $178.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $158.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $62.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.06, a PEG ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 1.01. Ross Stores, Inc. has a one year low of $122.36 and a one year high of $194.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 20th. The apparel retailer reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.38 by $0.20. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 36.75%. The company had revenue of $5.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.38 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.48 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. 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. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 9th were given a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 9th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is 25.31%.

Ross Stores Company 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.