Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) Shares Purchased by Groupama Asset Managment

Groupama Asset Managment boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 278.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 9,040 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,653 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $1,369,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Ross Stores by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,965,695 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $295,857,000 after buying an additional 151,255 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 0.3% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 31,460 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $4,735,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 101.5% in the third quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 5,761 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $867,000 after acquiring an additional 2,902 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its position in shares of Ross Stores by 667.9% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 25,324 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $3,812,000 after purchasing an additional 22,026 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ascent Group LLC acquired a new position in Ross Stores in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,378,000. 86.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 7,492 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.69, for a total transaction of $956,653.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 139,091 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,760,529.79. The trade was a 5.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CMO Karen Fleming sold 5,339 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.73, for a total value of $671,272.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 94,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,826,540.99. The trade was a 5.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 18,101 shares of company stock worth $2,300,905 over the last three months. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ROST has been the topic of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $175.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $168.00 to $163.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com lowered Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group lowered their price objective on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $161.40.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Ross Stores stock opened at $132.37 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $136.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $144.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.57. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1 year low of $122.36 and a 1 year high of $163.60. The company has a market capitalization of $43.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.15.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The apparel retailer reported $1.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.14. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.95 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were given a $0.405 dividend. This is an increase from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is currently 25.63%.

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.