Prudential PLC Has $790,000 Stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Prudential PLC lowered its holdings in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 27.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 5,223 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 1,955 shares during the quarter. Prudential PLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $790,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Hahn Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Ross Stores by 40.9% during the 4th quarter. Hahn Capital Management LLC now owns 74,059 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $11,203,000 after purchasing an additional 21,500 shares in the last quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ross Stores during the fourth quarter worth $269,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 22.6% during the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 2,847 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $431,000 after acquiring an additional 524 shares during the period. Oak Ridge Investments LLC lifted its position in Ross Stores by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 115,849 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $17,524,000 after acquiring an additional 11,060 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Ross Stores by 137.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,976,140 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $299,583,000 after purchasing an additional 1,144,774 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on ROST. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Ross Stores from $168.00 to $156.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Telsey Advisory Group dropped their target price on Ross Stores from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Ross Stores from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $146.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $161.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 7,492 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.69, for a total transaction of $956,653.48. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 139,091 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,760,529.79. This trade represents a 5.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CMO Karen Fleming sold 5,339 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 94,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,826,540.99. This trade represents a 5.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 34,398 shares of company stock valued at $4,439,950. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Trading Down 1.9 %

Ross Stores stock opened at $127.88 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.57. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $135.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $143.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.14, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.11. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52 week low of $122.36 and a 52 week high of $163.60.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The apparel retailer reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.95 billion. Analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. This is a boost from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.63%.

Ross Stores 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.