Intech Investment Management LLC Boosts Stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Intech Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 63.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,120 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,848 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $2,276,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. PGGM Investments lifted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 724.1% during the second quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 24,848 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $3,611,000 after buying an additional 21,833 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co boosted its stake in Ross Stores by 47.5% in the second quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 13,124 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $1,907,000 after acquiring an additional 4,228 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in Ross Stores by 42.1% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 63,105 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $9,260,000 after purchasing an additional 18,685 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of Ross Stores by 10.3% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,737,042 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $397,747,000 after purchasing an additional 254,720 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Investment Management Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 144,310 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $21,720,000 after purchasing an additional 10,384 shares in the last quarter. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ross Stores news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.64, for a total transaction of $1,302,084.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 103,049 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,038,546.36. This represents a 7.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 14,887 shares of Ross Stores stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.22, for a total transaction of $2,266,099.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 11,133 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,694,665.26. This trade represents a 57.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 72,138 shares of company stock valued at $11,093,051. 2.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Ross Stores from $162.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $147.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $175.00 price target on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Ross Stores from $163.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ross Stores has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $171.69.

Ross Stores Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ROST opened at $146.09 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12-month low of $127.53 and a 12-month high of $163.60. The business has a 50 day moving average of $145.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $144.70. The company has a market capitalization of $48.47 billion, a PE ratio of 23.01, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.09.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $5.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.15 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 42.42%. The business’s revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.33 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.1 EPS for the current year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be paid a $0.3675 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.01%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.15%.

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.