Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST Shares Sold by AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs

AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs reduced its stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,049 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after selling 677 shares during the period. AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs’ holdings in Ross Stores were worth $1,665,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. ICW Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 0.4% during the first quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 18,458 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $2,359,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 3.8% during the first quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 1,932 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $247,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 50.7% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 217 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 6.1% during the first quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,280 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $164,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Finally, Tradewinds Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 36.6% during the first quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 280 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Ross Stores news, insider Stephen C. Brinkley sold 6,437 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.97, for a total value of $971,793.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 57,012 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,607,101.64. The trade was a 10.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO James Grant Conroy sold 39,351 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.00, for a total transaction of $5,745,246.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 157,153 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,944,338. The trade was a 20.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 52,720 shares of company stock worth $7,761,212 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Ross Stores stock opened at $156.75 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $150.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $142.79. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1 year low of $122.36 and a 1 year high of $158.69. The stock has a market cap of $50.98 billion, a PE ratio of 24.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.18.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.02. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.60% and a return on equity of 37.37%. The company had revenue of $5.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.59 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 9th were issued a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 9th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is presently 25.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on ROST. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $156.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $156.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $128.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $146.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Finally, BTIG Research began coverage on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ross Stores has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $162.33.

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.