M&T Bank Corp Has $5.93 Million Holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

M&T Bank Corp lowered its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 9.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 32,942 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 3,492 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $5,934,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 1.9% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 9,762,583 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,487,720,000 after buying an additional 180,182 shares during the last quarter. Viking Global Investors LP lifted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 9.9% in the second quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 4,747,639 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $605,704,000 after buying an additional 426,370 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 5.7% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,655,932 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $709,518,000 after buying an additional 252,284 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 10.2% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,045,346 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $616,470,000 after buying an additional 375,470 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshfield Associates lifted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 4.1% in the third quarter. Marshfield Associates now owns 4,020,413 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $612,671,000 after buying an additional 157,385 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Price Performance

NASDAQ ROST opened at $227.42 on Wednesday. Ross Stores, Inc. has a twelve month low of $124.49 and a twelve month high of $230.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.26 billion, a PE ratio of 34.41, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.87. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $216.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $191.74.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 3rd. The apparel retailer reported $2.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.10. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 36.70% and a net margin of 9.43%.The business had revenue of $6.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.65 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 7.32 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were issued a $0.445 dividend. This is a positive change from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is currently 26.93%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $240.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $200.00 price objective on Ross Stores in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Ross Stores from $205.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 price objective on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Ross Stores from $224.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ross Stores currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $212.06.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ross Stores

In other Ross Stores news, Director Patricia H. Mueller sold 1,881 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.13, for a total value of $400,897.53. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $460,147.67. This represents a 46.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CMO Karen Sykes sold 5,506 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.40, for a total value of $1,174,980.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 104,648 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,331,883.20. This trade represents a 5.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 25,756 shares of company stock valued at $5,521,004 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

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.