Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. Acquires 41,355 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 39.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 145,031 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 41,355 shares during the quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $30,870,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROST. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co boosted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 33.5% during the 2nd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co now owns 8,210 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $1,747,000 after buying an additional 2,060 shares in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,632,000. Greenleaf Trust grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 6,026 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,283,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in Ross Stores by 21.6% in the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,176,560 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $463,281,000 after buying an additional 386,520 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New Mexico Educational Retirement Board increased its position in Ross Stores by 9.5% in the 2nd quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 16,090 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $3,425,000 after buying an additional 1,400 shares in the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ROST opened at $228.55 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $233.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $223.45. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 1-year low of $143.39 and a 1-year high of $257.00. The firm has a market cap of $73.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.86.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 20th. The apparel retailer reported $2.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.71. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 39.29% and a net margin of 10.85%.The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.56 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be paid a $0.445 dividend. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 8th. Ross Stores’s payout ratio is currently 21.55%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on ROST shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Monday, July 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Ross Stores from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, June 20th. Zacks Research lowered Ross Stores from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. UBS Group increased their target price on Ross Stores from $232.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 21st. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group lifted their price target on shares of Ross Stores from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $263.76.

About Ross Stores

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.