DAVENPORT & Co LLC Purchases 1,247 Shares of Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its position in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 17.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,547 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,247 shares during the quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $1,090,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ROST. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Ross Stores by 17.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,121,706 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $4,360,413,000 after purchasing an additional 4,946,101 shares in the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. raised its holdings in Ross Stores by 59.3% in the first quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 4,055,088 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $518,200,000 after purchasing an additional 1,509,815 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Ross Stores in the first quarter worth about $122,043,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. raised its holdings in Ross Stores by 184.4% in the first quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,080,532 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $138,081,000 after purchasing an additional 700,546 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 21.5% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 1,392,475 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $177,944,000 after acquiring an additional 246,648 shares in the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ROST opened at $147.71 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $148.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $140.79. The firm has a market cap of $48.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.18. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 52 week low of $122.36 and a 52 week high of $158.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $5.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.54 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 37.37% and a net margin of 9.60%.Ross Stores’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.59 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 9th were given a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 9th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.71%.

Insider Transactions at Ross Stores

In related news, CEO James Grant Conroy sold 39,351 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.00, for a total value of $5,745,246.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 157,153 shares in the company, valued at $22,944,338. This represents a 20.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CMO Karen Sykes sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.76, for a total value of $607,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer owned 106,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,149,236.88. This represents a 3.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 52,720 shares of company stock worth $7,761,212 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ROST has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $156.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $128.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and set a $160.00 price objective (up previously from $150.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $160.67.

About Ross Stores

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.